UNIVERSITY  O¥  CALIFORNIA 
AT    LOS  ANGELES 


X 

' 


. 


RAILWAY  ECONOMY; 


A    TREATISE    ON     THE 


NEW  ART  OF  TRANSPORT, 


MANAGEMENT,  PROSPECTS,  AND  RELATIONS, 

COMMERCIAL,    FINANCIAL,   AND    SOCIAL, 

WITH   AN    EXPOSITION   OF 

THE   PRACTICAL   RESULTS   OF    THE   RAILWAYS   IN   OPERATION  IN 

THE   UNITED  KINGDOM,    ON   THE    CONTINENT, 

AND   IN   AMERICA. 

BY  DIONYSIUS  LARDNEB,  D.C.L.,  &c. 


"  There  be  three  things  which  make  a  nation  great  and  prosperous :  a  fertile  soil, 
busy  workshops,  and  easy  conveyance  of  men  and  things  from  one  place  to  another." 
— BACON. 

"  Let  us  travel  over  all  the  countries  of  the  earth,  and  wherever  we  shall  find  no 
facility  of  passing  from  a  city  to  a  town,  or  from  a  village  to  a  hamlet,  there  we  may 
pronounce  the  people  to  be  barbarians."— RAYNAI,. 


NEW    YORK: 
HARPER   &   BROTHERS,    PUBLISHERS, 

82    CLIFF    STREET. 

1850. 


ANALYTICAL    TABLE 

OF 

CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

INFLUENCE    OF    IMPROVED   TRANSPORT  ON   CIVILIZATION. 

Pago 

Art  of  transport  essential  to  social  advancement  ...............................  25 

Requisites  of  transport  ......................................................  26 

Advantages  of  transport  ....................................................  26 

Transport  confers  value  on  articles  valueless  and  even  nuisances  ...............  29 

Transport  stimulates  consumption  and  production  .............................  29 

Railway  transport  increases  demand  for  labor  .................................  30 

Advantages  of  increased  speed  by  railway  transport  ...........................  31 

Railway  transport  affords  superior  advantages  .................................  32 

It  increases  the  profit  of  the  farmer,  and  the  rent  of  the  landlord  ...............  33 

Importance  of  railway  transport  as  regards  persons  ............................  34 

Its  advantages  to  operative  classes  ...........................................  34 

^j     Extends  the  area  of  supply  of  large  cities  and  for  residence  of  their  population  ...  35 

•V     Comparison  of  these  advantages  in  England  and  on  the  Continent  ..............  36 

.)      Good  means  of  communication  advantageous  in  the  diffusion  of  knowledge  and 

^        the  increase  of  civilization  .................................................  38 

Electric  telegraph,  its  advantages  and  results  .................................  38 

Journalism  in  England  supplies  a  striking  illustration  of  the  effects  resulting  from 

improved  transport  ........................................................  39 

3 


CHAPTER  II. 

RETROSPECT  OF  THE  PROGRESS  OF  TRANSPORT. 

Of  the  first  construction  and  improvement  of  roads  and  carriages 41 

Roads  do  not  exist  in  more  than  two-sevenths  of  the  inhabited  parts  of  the  globe.  42 

Roman  and  Egyptian  roads 42 

Roads  constructed  by  order  of  Semiramis 43 

Internal  communication  in  ancient  Greece 43 

Roads  of  the  Plienicians  and  Carthaginians 43 

Roman  military  roads 44 


iv  CONTENTS. 

Page 

Commercial  intercourse  during  the  middle  ages 45 

Influence  of  the  crusades  on  the  art  of  transport 45 

Roads  and  intercommunication  on  the  Continent  to  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth 

century 46 

System  of  roads  projected  by  Napoleon 46 

Improvement  in  internal  communication  after  the  peace  of  1815 47 

Roads  of  France 47 

First  roads  in  England,  those  made  by  the  Romans 48 

Watling-street— Ermine-street— Fosse-way  and  Ikenald 48 

First  attempts  to  improve  roads  in  Great  Britain  in  reign  of  Charles  the  Second. .  49 

Transport  in  Scotland  to  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century 49 

Slowness  of  traveling  in  Scotland 49 

Arthur  Young's  account  of  the  roads  in  England  in  1770 50 

Comparison  between  cost  and  speed  of  former  and  present  modes  of  transport 51 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE    ORGANIZATION    OF   A   RAILWAY   ADMINISTRATION. 

Its  four  principal  departments 

Their  respective  services  explained  generally , 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE    WAY   AND   WORKS- 

Maintenance  of  way  "and  works  involves  consideration  of  several  kinds  and 

degrees  of  wear  and  tear : 53 

Wear  and  tear  classified  and  explained 53 

Annual  repairs  of  new  railway  greater  than  at  later  period 54 

Wear  and  tear  not  made  good  by  annual  repairs 56 

Erroneous  opinion  of  engineers  as  to  durability  of  rails 56 

Mode  of  calculating  the  average  duration  of  rails 56 

Circumstances  hitherto  attending  railways  throw  difficulties  in  the  way  of  such 

inquiry 57 

First  English  passenger  railways  laid  with  rails  of  351bs.  to  the  yard 57 

Weight  of  engines  successively  augmented,  carriages  and  goods  wagons  under- 
going a  corresponding  increase 58 

Rails  originally  laid  thus  rendered  inadequate  in  strength 58 

Speed  and  weight  of  trains  also  increased 59 

From  these  circumstances,  weight  of  rails  increased .  59 

Railways  at  present  laid  with  rails  varying  from  65  to  85  Ins.  a  yard 59 

Messrs.  Stephenson  and  Locke  recommend  rails  of  85  Ibs.  a  yard 59 

Mode  originally  used  for  supporting  rails 59 

Now  superseded  for  the  most  part  by  sleepers 59 

Material  of  sleepers 60 

Their  preparation  to  insure  durability 60 

Distances  between  them 60 

Their  cubical  magnitude 60 

Wear  of  rails  might  have  been  ascertained 60 


CONTENTS.  v 

Paga 
But    their  ultimate  destination  considered   so   remote  —  problem  left  without 

solution 61 

In  Belgium  circumstances  more  favorable  to  investigation  of  questions  more  re 

mote  than  immediate 61 

Official  reports  of  Belgian  railways  throw  considerable  light  on  this  point 61 

Durability  of  sleepers  depends  solely  on  intrinsic  qualities 01 

Duration  of  sleepers  of  white  wood  averages  eight  years,  of  oak  not  ascertained  .  61 

Average  duration  of  sleepers  on  Belgian  railways 61 

On  Belgian  lines  about  8  per  cent,  renewed  annually Gl 

Calculations  by  Belgian  engineers  as  to  advantage  of  oat  exclusively 61 

Result,  that  cost  nearly  the  same  ultimately 61 

Cost  affected  by  local  circumstances 61 

Durability  of  rails  independent  of  time,  and  exclusively  consequent  on  quantity  of 

work 62 

Observations  of  wear  of  rails  on  Belgian  lines 62 

Belgian  engineers  have  endeavored  to  ascertain  proportion  of  wear  assignable  to 

engines,  vehicles,  and  load 62 

Have  arrived  at  conclusion  of  quantities  abraded  from  rails  by  engine,  vehicles, 

and  load 62 

Such  quantities  are  in  fact  in  the  ratio  of  the  weights  of  these  objects 62 

Directors  of  Northwestern  directed  investigation  in  1849 63 

Report  of  Captain  Huish 63 

Comparison  of  report  of  Captain  Huish  with  conclusions  of  Belgian  engineers  ...  64 

Financial  expedient  necessary  to  meet  the  exigency 65 

Cost  of  relaying  permanent  way  65 

Annual  reserve  necessary  to  meet  such  cost 65 

Extent  of  railways  in  United  Kingdom 65 

Distribution  of  railways  between  England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland 66 

Rate  of  construction  of  railways 66 

Table  showing,  for  the  railways  authorized  previously  to  the  end  of  1843  and  in 
each  succeeding  year,  the  proportion  opened  for  traffic  during  each  year,  and 
the  proportion  remaining  to  be  completed  at  the  end  of  1848 ;  and  also  showing 

the  length  of  railway  opened  for  traffic  in  each  year  since  1843 67 

Railways  sanctioned  by  parliament  on  January  1,  1849.. 67 

Length  likely  to  be  constructed 68 

Financial  condition  of  railway  companies  to  May  1,  1848 68 

State  of  execution  of  recently  opened  railways 69 

Probable  cost  of  construction,  stock,  &c 69 

Tabular  analysis  of  the  number  and  description  of  persons  employed  on  May  1, 

1848,  on  4253  miles  of  railway  open,  and  2958  in  progress,  by  170  companies  ...  69 

Railways  then  supplied  means  of  living  to  two  per  cent,  of  population 70 

State  of  railways  since  May  1, 1848,  as  to  labor  employed  on  them 70 


CHAPTER  V. 

LOCOMOTIVE    POWER. 

Its  economical  importance 71 

Stock  divided  into  that  of  passenger  and  goods  traffic 71 

Passenger  and  goods  engines 71 

Register  should  be  kept  of  locomotive  engines 71 


CONTENTS. 


Kept  by  establishment  of  Belgian  railways  ....................................  72 

Number  of  engines  employed  on  Belgian  lines  at  end  of  1847  ...................  72 

None  had  then  been  superannuated  ..........................................  72 

Circumstances  of  locomotives  on  English  railways  .............................  73 

Mode  of  ascertaining  the  average  mileage  of  each  engine  .......................  73 

Example  deduced  from  Belgian  railways  .....................................  73 

Although  mileage  might  be  augmented  should  not  exceed  certain  limits  .........  74 

Expenses  of  cleaning,  lighting,  and  raising  steam  should  be  charged  on  its 

mileage  ..................................................................  74 

Important  to  ascertain  proportion  of  mileage  to  times  cleaned  and  lighted  ........  74 

Mode  of  determining  average  number  of  miles  run  by  each  engine  after  cleaning 

and  lighting  .............................................................  75 

Examples  deduced  from  official  reports  of  Belgian  railways  ....................  75 

And  of  the  Orleans  railway  ..................................................  75 

Expense  incurred  by  engine  standing  with  steam  up  ...........................  75 

Reserve  engines  and  assistant  engines  described  ..............................  75 

Separate  account  of  reserve  engines,  &c.,  should  be  kept  .......................  76 

Mode  of  ascertaining  actual  mileage  of  each  working  engine  ...................  76 

Average  distance  run  by  each  engine  lighted  and  worked  ......................  76 

Reserve  engines,  if  included,  would  reduce  this  ...............................  77 

A  record  of  number  of  hours  each  engine  has  been  lighted  and  standing  should 

be  kept  ...................................................................  77 

Example  of  this  deduced  from  Belgian  railway,  in  1846,  1847  ...................  77 

For  every  10  miles  of  practical  work,  each  engine  kept  one  hour  standing  .......  77 

Fuel  consumed  in  working  ..................................................  77 

Its  classification  —  in  lighting  and  steaming  —  in  standing  with  steam  up,  or  in 

reserve,  and  in  drawing  trains  .............................................  77 

Quantity  of  coke  consumed  in  drawing  trains  depends  on  their  magnitude, 

weight,  and  speed  .........................................................  78 

Economy  of  fuel  on  Belgian  railways  .........................................  78 

Rules  established  on  these  railways  for  'allowance  of  coke  to  engine  drivers  for 

different  purposes  .........................................................  78 

Quantity  consumed  per  engine  per  mile  on  Belgian  railways  ...................  79 

Register  should  be  kept  of  fuel  consumed  under  the  three  heads  of  lighting, 

standing,  and   working,  with  hours   standing,  engines   lighted,  and  mileage 

worked  ..................................................................  79 

Statement  of  fuel  consumed  on  Belgian  railways  ..............................  79 

Sources  from  which  economy  of  fuel  may  be  expected  .........................  80 

Manner  of  fabricating  coke  ...................................................  80 

Small  coke  unfit  for  locomotive  engines  ......................................  81 

But  useful  to,-  fuel  ..........................................................  81 

Quantities  of  large  and  small  coke  produced  on  Belgian  railways  ...............  81 

On  English  railways  no  data  for  similar  calculations  ..........................  81 

Extnct  frvm  report  of  Orent  Western  of  coal  and  coke  .........................  81 

•t'.irn  of  Northwestern  of  coke  consumed  by  locomotives  and  mileage  of  engines 

,,.  .uiiiceu  thereby  ...................................................  .....  82 

E.\an.ples  from  Brighton  and  South  Coast  for  1848  and  1849  ....................  82 

•  lode  of  ascertaining  the  number  of  times  per  annum  each  engine  lighted  .......  82 

Examples  from  Belgian  railways  .............................................  82 

Three  days  a  week  required  on  average  for  rest,  cleaning,  and  repair  of  engine  .  .  83 

Striking  result  of  calculations.—  Small  amount  of  useful  service  of  locomotives.  .  .  83 

Table  of  service  of  engines,  deduced  from  returns  of  several  continental  railways  84 

Result  of  investigation  ......  ..............................  ..  ..................  85 


CONTENTS.  vii 

Paga 

Data  supplied  by  English  railways  afford  no  means  of  comparison 84 

But  as  to  Northwestern,  comparison  instituted 84 

Hence  conclusion  that  engines  worked,  one  with  another,  1 J  hour  a  day 85 

Distances  worked  by  engine  drivers  and  firemen  on  Northwestern  line  and  time 

of  their  performance • 85 

Distance  in  each  trip  run  by  each  engine  on  Northwestern  line,  and  time  of  its 

performance 85 

Locomotive  power  worked  more  advantageously  on  these  than  on  continental 

lines  generally 85 

Comparisons  between  railways  sometimes  instituted  in  reports  on  relation  between 

locomotive  stock  and  length  of  line 86 

Afford  no  consequence  of  importance 85 

Quantity  of  locomotive  power  does  not  depend  on  length  of  railway,  but  on  quan- 
tity of  traffic  and  its  mileage 86 

Test  of  comparison  should  be  quantity  of  work  executed  by  given  power 86 

Comparison  between  mileage  of  engines  on  Northwestern  and  North  of  France . .  86 

Determination  of  number  of  engines  necessary  to  work  a  given  mileage 87 

Amount  of  locomotive  stock  necessary  may  be  assumed  to  be  in  direct  proportion 

to  receipts 88 

Number  and  Mileage  of  locomotives  in  the  United  Kingdom 88 

Consumption  of  fuel  for  twelve  months  ending  June  30,  1849 89 

Quantity  of  coal  consumed  in  its  fabrication 89 

Quantity  of  coal  consumed  annually  on  the  railways 89 


CHAPTER  VI. 

CARRYING    STOCK. 

Vehicles  of  two  classes  for  passengers  and  goods 89 

Trains  propelled  by  different  engines  and  under  different  circumstances 90 

Doubtful  whether  separate  lines  of  rails  for  each  traffic  would  not  have  been 

advantageous 90 

Carrying  stock  of  railways  an  important  item  in  movable  capital 92 

Quantity  on  Belgian,  North  of  France,  and  English  Northwestern  lines 93 

In  carrying  department,  register  should  be  kept  of  mileage  of  each  vehicle 94 

Mode  of  ascertaining  average  mileage  of  each  vehicle 94 

Table  of  number  and  mileage  of  vehicles  on  Belgian  railways 95 

Daily  duty  of  carriages  smaller  than  expected 95 

Table  of  mileages  and  quantities  of  carrying  slock  on  five  foreign  railways 96 

No  data  for  similar  calculations  as  to  English  railways 97 

Table  of  vehicles  of  passenger  traffic  and  their  mileage  on  Northwestern  railway 

during  half-year  ending  December,  1848 97 

Mode  of  calculating  necessary  amount  of  carrying  stock 98 

Table  of  goods-carrying  stock  and  its  mileage  on  six  continental  railways 98 

Approximate  estimate  of  mileage  of  goods  carrying  stock  of  Northwestern  Com- 
pany for  half-year  ending  December,  1848 99 

Small  amount  of  daily  useful  mileage  of  goods-carrying  stock  explained 99 

Average  time  of  stock  in  carrying  transport  on  continental  lines  about  one  hour 

per  day 99 

On  English  lines  each  vehicle  worked  one  hour  and  a  half  daily 99 

Necessary  to  ascertain  composition  of  each  train 99 


viii  CONTENTS. 


Mode  of  determining  this,  and  examp  es  ......................................     90 

Mileage  account  should  be  kept  of  passenger  traffic  carried  with  goods  train  .....  300 

Table  exhibiting  the  mileage  of  the  goods  vehicles,  the  average  number  of  vehicles 

per  engine,  and  of  vehicles  per  train,  with  their  designation,  on  Orleans  railway  101 
Deductions  of  composition  of  trains,  as  to  passenger  conches,  on  English  railways 

from  data  of  Northwestern  .............     ..................................  101 

But  such  data  insufficient,  and  conclusions  only  approximate  ...................  102 

Mode  of  obtaining  number  of  wagons  composing  goods  train,  and  results  ........  102 

In  near  accordance  with  the  estimate  of  Captain  Iluish  .......................  102 

Mode  of  exhibiting  average  extent  to  which  railway  has  been  used  by  rolling  stock  103 
Aa  to  locomotive  stock  .......................................................  103 

As  to  mileage  of  goods  engines  and  other  vehicles  .............................  103 

Example  from  Belgian  railways,  for  1844  .....................................  104 

Table  showing  the  quantity  of  locomotive  and  carrying  stock  which,  being  moved 

the  whole  length  of  the  Belgian  railways,  consisting  of  347  miles,  would  have 

the  same  mileage  as  the  actual  stock  .......................................  104 

Where  traffic  uniform,  average  distribution  of  traffic  over  entire  line  may  be 

adopted  as  basis  of  general  reasoning  .......................................  104 

But  different  parts  of  line  unequally  used  by  traffic  ............................  104 

Desirable  to  obtain  estimate  of  extent  of  each  section  used  by  rolling  stock  ......  104 

Weights  of  vehicles  on  Belgian  railways  ......................................  105 

Mode  of  finding  average  amount  of  dead  weight  drawn  by  each  engine  .........  105 

Table  of  average  dead  weight  drawn  by  each  class  of  engine  ...................  105 

No  satisfactory  data  to  ascertain  proportion  of  dead  weight  to  profitable  load  on 

English  railways  ..........................................................  106 

Weights  of  passenger  coaches  on  English  railways  ............................  106 


CHAPTER  VII. 

MAINTENANCE   AND    REPRODUCTION   OF    THE    ROLLING    STOCK. 

Question  raised  as  to  wear  and  tear  of  rolling  stock 107 

Analogies  suggested  between  this  and  permanent  way 107 

Only  lately  that  question  raised,  whether  rolling  stock  in  condition  analogous  to 

permanent  way 107 

Economical  principles  on  which  solution  of  question  depends 107 

First  projectors  of  lines  contemplated  themselves  only  as  mere  proprietors  of  the 

railway 107 

Intended  to  offer  it  to  the  public  to  be  run  upon,  receiving  a  toll 108 

Proprietors  compelled  to  become  carriers 108 

Provide  apparatus  for  transport,  and  erect  works  for  fabrication  of  engines  and 

carriages 108 

Establishments  of  Northwestern  for  fabrication  of  rolling  stock 108 

Capital  absorbed  in  them 109 

Factory  at  Wol  verton 109 

Establishment  at  Crewe  109 

Stock  of  engines  on  Northwestern J10 

Statement  showing  quantity  and  estimated  actual  value  of  articles  included  in 

amount  charged  to  capital  for  "working  stock"  of  .£1,462,901— January  1st, 

1848 110 

Number  of  passenger  coaches  in  progress  at  Crewe Ill 


CONTENTS.  ix 

Page 

Statement  of  Captain  Huish  of  carrying  stock  of  railways  in  England  and  Scot- 
land, on  1st  January,  1848 Ill 

Former  and  present  cost  of  railway  carriages 112 

Estimate  of  total  carrying  stock  used  for  working  railway  traffic  in  United  King- 
dom in  1848, 9 113 

Aggregate  value  of  such  stock 114 

Question  of  annual  reserve  fund  for  future  replacement  of  rolling  stock  discussed  114 

Discussion  of  question  between  revenue  and  capital 115 

Reported  malpractices  in  railway  management,  by  drafts  of  revenue  on  capital . .  116 

Discussion  of  question  as  to  closing  capital  account 116 

Shown  to  be  impracticable 116 

Question  as  to  taking  annual  valuation  of  stock  discussed 117 

Propriety  of  measure  tested  by  examining  its  consequences 117 

If  made,  must  be  on  principle  of  estimating  it  by  its  quantity  and  efficiency  only, 
and  not  its  marketable  value ....  , . .  119 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

STATIONS. 

Transport  constitutes  only  a  part  of  the  railway  business 119 

Theatre  of  many  operations  preliminary,  subsequent,  and  during  transport — the 

stations 119 

They  consist  of  four  departments  : 

1.  The  passenger  station  : 

2.  The  goods  station : 

3.  The  depdt  of  the  locomotive  power: 

4.  The  carriage  depdt 120 

General  description  of  passenger  station 121 

Quantity  of  baggage  allowed  on  continental  railways 122 

Parcels,  important  branch  of  traffic  of  passenger  trains 123 

Reception  offices  for  parcels  established  at  various  places  in  large  towns 123 

Distinct  department  for  parcels  at  chief  stations 123 

Mode  of  dealing  with  "light"  parcels 124 

Majority  of  parcels  "  light" 124 

Heavier  parcels  generally  sent  by  goods  trains 124 

Rates  for  transport  of  parcels  vary 124 

In  England,  charge  for  light  parcels  sometimes  as  low  as  6<Z.  including  delivery.  124 

Penny  postage  greatly  reduced  this  branch  of  traffic '.....  125 

Not  above  one  parcel  in  400,000  lost 125 

Horses  and  carriages  also  composed  traffic  of  passenger  station 126 

Arrangement  of  passenger  trains 126 

Carriages  forming  train  screwed  together  to  avoid  collision 126 

And  provided  with  buffers 126 

Arrangement  of  platform  for  passengers 127 

Fixed  engines  of  the  Northwestern  and  Liverpool  Railways 127 

Lost  luggage  office 128 

General  description  of  goods  stations 131 

Goods  wagons  of  the  Northwestern,  the  York  and  Newcastle,  the  Belgian,  and 

North  of  France  Railways,  and  their  performance 131 

a* 


CONTENTS. 


Average  number  of  goods  wagons  of  Northwestern  arriving  and  departing  daily 

at  London  station 132 

Average  load  per  wagon 132 

And  total  weight  of  goods 132 

Parcels  of  goods  collected  throughout  capital  by  vans,  and  brought  by  them  and 

other  vehicles  to  station 132 

Mode  of  dealing  with  such  goods  at  station 132 

Change  effected  by  railways  in  management  of  business  of  retail  dealers 133 

Rates  for  transport  by  goods  trains 133 

Goods  trains  on  Northwestern 133 

Description  of  engine  stable 134 

In  larger  class  of  railways,  expedients  adopted  for  economy  in  consumption  of  fuel  135 

Water  heated  in  reservoirs  and  introduced  into  boilers 135 

Coke  prepared  by  ignition,  and  thrown  into  fire-box 135 

Workshop  for  smaller  repairs  attached  to  engine  department 135 

Larger  repairs  conducted  in  larger  establishments 135 

General  description  of  carriage  and  wagon  station 136 

Construction  of  wheels  in  railway  carriages  explained 136 

Yellow  grease  described 137 

Its  composition  on  English  railways 137 

On  Belgian  railways 137 

Quantity  used  on  Belgian  railways  in  1844 137 

And  cost 137 

Sheds  for  reception  of  carriages 137 

Workshops  for  smaller  repairs  of  carriages 138 

Number  of  stations  on  English  railways 138 

Railway  refreshment  rooms 138 


CHAPTER  IX. 

CLEARING    HOUSE. 

After  several  railways  had  been  opened,  inconveniences  arose  menacing  railway 

establishments  with  insurmountable  difficulties 140 

In  consequence  of  separate  railway  administrations,  passenger  compelled  to  change 

carriage 140 

Trans-shipment  of  goods  graver  inconvenience 140 

Inconvenience  so  enormous,  and  clamor  so  irresistible,  that  traffic  of  all  descrip- 
tions carried  without  interruption  from  lines  of  one  company  to  another 141 

Produced  great  difficulties  among  companies 141 

Difficulty  removed  by  expedient  suggested  by  London  bankers'  clearing  house. . .  141 

Analogy  led  M.  K.  Morrison  to  suggest  railway  clearing  house 141 

Description  of  operations  in  clearing  house  of  London  bankers 141 

Reciprocal  interchange  of  business  creating  mutual  debits  and  credits  between 

railway  companies  explained 143 

Number  of  companies  which  have  combined  their  operations 143 

Number  of  their  stations 143 

In  adjusting  accounts,  clearing  house  regarded  as  common  creditor  and  common 

debtor  of  all  the  companies 14(5 

Mode  of  adjustment  as  to  goods,  traffic,  and  live  stock 146 

From  each  station,  goods  may  be  forwarded  daily  to  all  other  stations 148 


CONTENTS.  3d 

Page 

Account  of  such  goods  forwarded  daily  to  central  clearing  house 146 

Account  of  goods  received  forwarded  to  central  clearing  house 146 

Mode  of  rectifying  errors 147 

Debtor  companies  having  liquidated  balances,  clearing  house  distributes  them 

between  creditor  companies 147 

Mode  of  adjusting  accounts  of  passenger  traffic 147 

Clearing  house  debits  companies  for  receipts,  and  credits  companies  interested. . .   148 

Accounts  balanced  monthly,  and  dealt  with  as  in  case  of  goods 148 

Separate  account  kept  of  government  duty 148 

Weekly  abstract  of  accounts  sent  by  clearing  house  to  companies 149 

Mode  of  adjusting  accounts  of  carrying  stock 149 

Account  as  to  rolling  stock  opened  with  companies 149 

Questions  respecting  lost  luggage  or  parcels  arranged  by  clearing  house 150 

Extent  of  transactions  settled  by  agency  of  clearing  house 150 

Number  of  communications  made  daily  from  central  clearing  house  to  stations  ..  150 

Number  of  monthly  accounts  furnished  to  companies 150 

Clearing  house  statistics  for  year  ending  June,  1849 151 

Principle  of  clearing  house  admits  of  more  extensive  application 151 

Interchange  limited  to  vehicles  of  transport 151 

Nothing  to  prevent  same  interchange  of  locomotive  power 151 

Clearing  house  may  ultimately  grow  into  establishment  for  maintenance  of  gen- 
eral locomotion  and  carrying  stock  for  all  railways 151 

Nothing  to  limit  operation  of  clearing  house  to  United  Kingdom 152 

Same  reciprocal  conveniences  as  to  traffic  booked  through  might  be  extended  to 
entire  continent  of  Europe 152 


CHAPTER  X. 

PASSENGER  TRAFFIC. 

Movement  of  passenger  traffic  expressed  by  mileage 152 

Mileage  easily  calculated  from  records  of  booking  office 152 

Tabular  analysis  of  the  movement  of  passengers  on  the  railways  of  the  United 

Kingdom  during  the  six  years  and  a  half  terminating  December  31,  1848 153 

Mode  of  ascertaining  average  distance  traveled  by  each  passenger  booked  in  the 

successive  periods 154 

Mode  of  determining  average  number  of  passengers  booked  per  day 154 

Tabular  analysis  of  the  daily  mileage  distance  traveled  and  numbers  booked  on 

the  railways  of  the  United  Kingdom 154 

Average  distances  traveled  much  smaller  than  might  have  been  supposed 155 

Through  traffic  produces  little  effect 157 

Passengers  generally  travel  short  distances 157 

Tabular  analysis  of  the  passenger  traffic  of  the  railways  of  the  United  Kingdom, 

during  the,twelve  months  which  terminated  on  June  30,  1847 158 

Tabular  analysis  of  the  proportion  of  business  supplied  to  the  railways  of  the 

United  Kingdom  by  the  several  classes  of  passengers  respectively,  during  the 

seven  years  ending  June  30,  1849 150 

Second  and  third  classes  supply  chief  business  of  railway 160 

Business  of  stations  proportional  to  number  of  passengers  booked,  irrespective  of 

distance 160 

Business  of  the  road  proportional  to  mileage,  irrespective  of  number  booked 160 


xii  CONTENTS. 

Page 

Ratio  of  business  supplied  to  stations  by  several  classes  of  passengers 160 

Causes  of  augmentation  of  third  class  passengers  from  1845  to  1847 160 

Necessary  to  classify  passengers  according  to  distances 161 

Tendency  to  augmentation  in  numbers  and  mileage  of  lower  classes 162 

Comparison  between  railway  and  stage  coach  traveling 162 

Table  showing  the  rate  at  which  the  average  daily  passenger  traffic  has  aug- 
mented on  the  railways  of  the  United  Kingdom  during  the  six  years  and  a  half 

ending  December  31, 1848 163 

Tabular  analysis  of  the  progressive  development  of  the  railways  of  the  United 
Kingdom,  and  of  the  movement  of  passengers  upon  them  during  the  seven  years 

ending  June  30,  1849 166 

Increase  of  passenger  traffic  lias  not  kept  pace  with  increase  of  railways 166 

Tabular  analysis  of  the  passenger  traffic  per  mile  of  the  railways  during  1846,  7  . .  167 
Tabular  comparison  of  the  annual  rates  of  increase  of  the  railways  in  operation, 

the  total  traffic  in  passengers,  and  the  average  traffic  per  mile  of  railway 167 

Cause  of  decreased  traffic  per  mile 168 

Mode  of  ascertaining  the  average  load  of  each  carriage 168 

Estimate  of  Captain  Huish 168 

Average  on  some  French  and  Belgian  railways 169 

Estimate  of  carriages  on  English  railways 169 

To  estimate  the  necessary  carrying  stock  of  railways 170 

Table  showing  the  average  number  of  passengers  of  each  class  carried  by  each 

passenger  train  on  the  Belgian  and  North  of  France  railways 171 

Tabular  analysis  showing  the  relation  between  the  movement  of  the  engines  and 
the  movement  of  the  passengers  on  the  Northwestern,  Great  Western,  and 

London,  Brighton,  and  South  Coast  Railways 172 

Average  composition  of  trains 173 

To  compute  average  load  of  horse  boxes  and  carriage  trucks , . .  174 

Advantages  of  frequency  of  departure 174 

Departures  from  London  stations 175 

Expedition  depends  more  on  few  stoppages  than  speed 175 

Reflections  on  the  enormous  speed  of  locomotion  on  railways 176 

Tabular  analysis  of  the  movement  of  the  passenger  traffic  on  the  principal  lines 
of  railway  diverging  from  London,  showing  the  average  speed,  stoppages,  &c., 

of  each  class  of  trains 177 

Damage  to  railway  and  stock  by  extreme  speeds 179 

Danger  of  express  trains 180 

Necessity  of  checking  tendency  of  public  to  demand  excessive  speed 181 


CHAPTER  XI. 

GOODS   TRAFFIC. 

Importance  of  goods  traffic 182 

Subject  to  more  difficult  conditions  than  passenger  traffic 182 

Graduations  of  tariff. 182 

Data  necessary  for  complete  analysis  of  goods  business 183 

Tabular  analysis  of  the  quantity  of  goods  and  live  stock  traffic  on  the  railways  of 

the  United  Kingdom  for  twelve  months  ending  June  30,  1847 184 

Tabular  analysis  of  the  daily  traffic  in  goods,  and  of  the  distance  carried  on  the 

railways  of  the  United  Kingdom  for  twelve  months  ending  June  30  1847 181 


CONTENTS.  xiii 

Tag* 

Tabular  analysis  of  the  average  distances  which  each  Ion  of  goods  was  trans- 
ported on  the  railways  of  the  United  Kingdom  during  twelve  months  ending 

June  30,  1847 ". 185 

Tabular  analysis  of  the  goods  traffic  on  the  railways  of  the  United  Kingdom 

during  the  six  years  and  a  half  ending  December  31,  1848 186 

Table  showing  the  comparative  rates  at  which  the  average  daily  traffic  in  pas- 
sengers and  goods  has  augmented  on  the  railways  of  tlie  United  Kingdom 

during  the  six  years  and  a  half  ending  December  31,  1848 186 

Striking  results  of  this  table 18G 

Captain  Huish's  estimate  of  loads  of  goods  wagons 187 

Tabular  analysis  showing  the  total  daily  mileage  of  the  goods  wagons,  and  of  the 
goods  engines  of  the  English  railways  for  six  years  and  a  half  ending  Decem- 
ber 31,  1848 187 

Estimate  of  equivalent  business  by  goods  wagons  on  common  roads 188 

Tabular  comparison  of  the  progressive  development  of  the  railways  of  the  United 
Kingdom  and  of  the  movement  of  goods  upon  them  during  the  six  years  and  a 

half  ending  December  31,  1848 188 

Increase  of  goods  greater  than  passengers 189 

Tabular  analysis  showing  the  average  daily  mileage  of  tons  of  goods,  and  the 
average  number  of  tons  carried  daily  per  mile,  on  the  railways  of  the  United 

Kingdom  during  the  twelve  months  ending  June  30,  1847 190 

Numerical  estimate  of  men  and  horses  employed  by  Northwestern 190 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE    EXPENSES. 

Introduction 191 

Analysis  of  the  past  expenses  of  a  railway  has  two  objects— retrospective  and 

prospective 194 

Considered  prospectively,  supplies  grounds  of  estimate  of  future  expenses  and 

basis  of  future  tariff 194 

Tariff  may  increase  receipts,  and  yet  be  unjust  and  disadvantageous 195 

Profits  should  separately  be  made  on  each  class  of  objects 195 

Past  expenses  should  be  classified,  and  each  branch  dissected 195 

Cost  of  transport  of  each  object  should  be  known 195 

Such  cost  supplies  data  for  ameliorations  196 

Belpaire's  investigation  of  Belgian  railways 197 

Jullien  and  Teisserenc  on  French  railways 197 

To  ascertain  how  much  of  expenses  should  be  debited  to  each  object  of  traffic  ...  198 

Details  of  expenses  included  under  direction  and  management 201 

Expense  of  direction  and  management  on  Belgian  railways  in  1844 201 

Charge  per  mile  on  each  vehicle 202 

Expenses  of  direction  and  management  of  Northwestern  Railway 202 

Their  distribution  among  vehicles  of  transport 202 

Comparison  of  these  expenses  on  Belgian  and  Northwestern  Railways 203 

To  estimate  cost  of  direction  of  a  projected  railway 203 

Estimating  by  length  of  line  a  fallacy 203 

Expenses  of  way  and  works  classified 204 

Portions  of  expenses  of  repairs,  of  wear  produced  by  time  and  weather,  and  by 

other  agencies , 204 


xiv  CONTENTS. 

Page 

May  be  shared  among  carrying  stock 205 

Example  from  Belgian  railways 205 

These  expenses  augment  for  several  years  after  a  railway  opened 206 

Cause  of  this 206 

Correct  estimate  of  expenses  of  maintenance  can  only  be  obtained  after  road 

permanently  consolidated 206 

Expenses  of  maintenance  of  Northwestern 206 

Compared  with  those  of  Belgian  railways 207 

Annual  reserve  fund 207 

Experiments  to  determine  expenses  made  on  Belgian  railways 207 

Formula  by  which  expense  of  wear  of  one  ton  passing  over  road  may  be  ascer- 
tained   209 

Example  from  Belgian  railways 209 

Expenses  of  maintenance  of  road  resolved  into  four  items 210 

To  what  accounts  chargeable 211 

Expenses  of  locomotive  power  classified 211 

To  be  brought  to  accounts  of  carrying  expenses,  traffic,  and  mileage  of  engines  212 

Portion  of  expenses  chargeable  to  each  class  of  engines 213 

Mode  of  finding  charge  per  mile  on  each  vehicle  drawn 213 

Another  mode  by  which  cost  of  locomotive  power  may  be  distributed  among 

vehicles 213 

Subdivision  of  expenses  primarily  chargeable  on  mileage  of  engines 214 

Formula  for  finding  expenses  chargeable  per  mile  for  each  engine 215 

Cost  per  mile  of  driving  train 215 

Approximate  calculations  made  as  to  some  English  railways 218 

Comparison  of  results  on  Belgian  and  English  railways 218 

Average  cost  for  locomotive  power  on  English  railways  in  working  trains 220 

Definition  and  classification  of  carrying  expenses 220 

Table  of  expenses  per  mile  of  each  object  of  traffic,  the  average  number  of  such 
objects  of  traffic  carried  by  each  vehicle,  and  the  expenses  per  vehicle  per  mile 

produced  by  the  load  on  Belgian  railways 223 

Table  showing  the  share  of  expenses,  the  share  by  equal  division  among  vehicles 

and  the  difference  of  overcharge  and  undercharge 224 

Table  showing  the  actual  share  of  the  total  expenses  of  transport,  per  mile,  of 
each  object  of  traffic,  and  the  amount  per  cent,  of  the  overcharge  or  under- 
charge, by  a  uniform  distribution  among  the  vehicles 224 

Recapitulation  of  various  heads  of  expenses  before  explained 225 

Expense  per  mile  chargeable  on  each  vehicle  of  passenger  train  and  goods  train  226 
The  expenses  of  the  stations  are  chargeable  on  traffic  without  reference  to 

distance 226 

Classification  of  expenses  of  stations 226 

Some  common  measure  must  be  selected 228 

Difference  of  expense  of  each  class  of  objects 229 

Estimated  expenses  of  stations  on  Belgian  railways 230 

Practical  example  of  application  of  analysis  of  general  expenses  in  case  of  Belgian 

railways 230 

Illustrates  the  economy  of  working  with  full  trains 230 

Table  showing  expenses  of  stations  and  of  transport  for  each  class  of  objects  on 

Belgian  railways 231 

Process  of  computation  of  this  table  suggests  means  of  economy  of  transport. . . .  231 
Tabular  analysis  extracted  from  published  reports  of  thirteen  English  companies 
of  approximate  proportion,  in  which  the  working  expenses  of  railways  were 
distributed  under  the  several  specified  heads 233 


CONTENTS.  xv 

Page 

Statement  of  principal  measures  tending  to  increased  economy  of  expenses  in 
working  railways 232 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

RECEIPTS TARIFFS PROFITS. 

Relation  of  receipts  to  services 235 

Tabular  analysis  of  the  revenue  arising  from  the  passenger  traffic  on  the  railways 
of  the  United  Kingdom  during  the  six  years  and  a  half  ending  December  31, 
1846 235 

Tabular  analysis  of  the  proportions  in  which  each  class  of  passengers  contributed 
to  every  jClOO  of  gross  revenue  in  the  six  years  and  a  half  ending  December  31, 
1848 237 

Increase  of  inferior  classes  of  passengers 237 

Tabular  analysis  of  the  revenue  proceeding  from  the  passenger  traffic  of  the  rail- 
ways of  the  United  Kingdom  during  the  twelve  months  ending  June  30,  1847  238 

Table  subject  to  correction  owing  to  through  passengers 239 

Statement  of  the  gross  receipts  proceeding  from  merchandise,  cattle,  carriages, 
parcels,  mails,  &c.,  on  the  railways  of  the  United  Kingdom  during  the  six 
years  and  a  half  ending  Dec.  31,  1848 239 

First  projectors  of  railways  contemplated  traffic  in  merchandise  exclusively, 239 

Tabular  analysis  of  the  receipts  produced  from  the  traffic  in  merchandise  on  the 
railways  of  the  United  Kingdom  during  the  twelve  months  ending  June  30, 1847  240 

Table  showing  the  total  receipts  for  passengers  and  goods  on  the  British  railways 
during  six  years  and  a  half  ending  Dec.  31,  1848 240 

Share  per  cent,  of  gross  revenue  contributed  by  goods  traffic 241 

Recent  railway  returns  supply  no  data  to  ascertain  proportion  of  revenue  from 
different  classes  of  traffic 241 

Tabular  analysis,  deduced  from  reports  of  1847,  showing  approximate  proportion 
in  which  the  gross  revenue  proceeding  from  railways  of  the  United  Kingdom 
arose  from  certain  classes  of  traffic  during  twelve  months  ending  June,  1847. . .  241 

No  data  for  exhibiting  relations  between  receipts,  expenses,  and  profits  on  English 
railways 241 

Gross  receipts  on  all  the  railways  collectively  do  not  appear  to  have  ever  amounted 
to  8  per  cent,  on  capital 242 

Table,  calculated  on  hypothesis,  showing  the  proportion  of  the  receipts  on  the 
railways  of  the  United  Kingdom  to  their  length,  to  the  movement  of  the  traffic 
upon  them,  and  to  the  capital  expended  on  them 243 

Tabular  analysis  showing  the  proportion  which  the  increase  of  receipts  has  borne 
to  the  Increase  of  railways  open  during  the  six  years  and  a  half  ending  Dec.  31, 
1848 244 

Goods  and  third  class  passengers  supply  a  more  steady  revenue  than  the  other 
classes 245 

No  data  to  exhibit  analysis  of  receipts,  expenses,  and  profits  on  English  railways  245 

Tabular  classification  of  the  receipts,  expenses,  and  profits  of  the  Belgian  rail- 
ways during  the  year  1844 246 

Chief  financial  object  to  render  ratio  of  gross  receipts  to  expenses  as  great  as  pos- 
sible    247 

Elements  on  which  gross  receipts  depend 247 


xvi  CONTENTS. 

Tag* 

Problem  for  solution  to  investigate  manner  in  which  quantity  of  traffic  nnd  dis- 
tance of  transport  can  be  influenced  by  tariff 247 

Diagram  illustrating  the  relation  between  the  variations  of  tariff  and  receipts 249 

Problem  railway  manager  has  to  solve— discovery  of  the  point  at  which  net 

profits  are  a  maximum 250 

But  involves  the  necessity  of  having  regard  to  the  expenses 250 

Of  what  the  gross  expenses  consist 250 

Relations  of  receipts  and  expenses  considered  and  illustrated  by  diagram 250 

The  point  of  maximum  receipts  not  the  point  of  maximum  profits 252 

To  determine  point  of  maximum  profits,  necessary  to  express  arithmetical  relation 

between  tariff  and  traffic 252 

Different  on  every  railway,  and  only  to  be  determined  by  tentative  means 252 

Practical  illustrations  of  the  principles  pro]x>sed,  and  examples 253 

Table  showing  the  cost  of  transport  per  mile,  the  expenses  per  ton  independent 
of  distance,  the  tariff  per  ton  per  mile,  the  average  distance  carried,  the  total 
receipts  and  expenses  per  ton  booked,  and  the  total  expenses  per  ton  per  mile.  25(5 
If  average  distance  of  transport  doubled  a  tariff,  50  per  cent,  less  would  yield 

same  profit 256 

Proportional  expenses  could  be  diminished  by  reduction  of  tariff 257 

Rate  of  charge  per  mile  on  traffic  liable  to  variation 257 

An  important  question  in  railway  economy 257 

Advantage  to  railways  from  graduated  tariff  favoring  transport  to  greater  dis- 
tances    258 

Table  showing  rates  at  which  expenses  of  transport  per  mile  axe  decreased  corre- 
sponding to  increase  of  distance 259 

Tariff  graduated  on  principle  of  diminishing  as  distance  increases,  source  of 

largely  augmented  profits 259 

Great  encouragement  on  Belgian  railways  to  secure  complete  loads 261 

Difficulties  in  case  of  passenger  traffic 261 

May  be  partially  obviated  by  careful  classification  of  passengers  in  carriages,  and 

by  proper  distribution  of  carrying  stock 201 

Table  exhibiting  relation  between  mileage  of  engines   and   receipts  on  some 

English  and  foreign  railways 263 

Average  receipts  per  engine  on  English  railways  7s.  per  mile 2i>3 

Mode  of  diminishing  expense  in  goods  and  passenger  tr»JRc 263 

Table  exhibiting  proportion  which  receipts  have  borne  to  capital  of  railways  of 
the  United  Kingdom,  during  6J  years,  ending  December,  1848 204 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

ACCIDENTS    ON    RAILWAYS. 

Chances  of  accident 266 

From  causes  beyond  the  control  of  sufferer .'.'.!!.'  266 

Agents  and  servants  of  railways  more  exposed  to  accident 266 

Analysis  of  railway  accidents  for  two  years  ending  December,  1848 267 

Number  of  accidents  to  passengers  from  causes  beyond  their  own  control 269 

Amount  of  risk  to  which  railway  passengers  expos*  agents  of  transport '...  269 

Number  of  accidents  to  railway  servants  from  causes  beyond  their  own  control, 

in  two  years  ending  with  J848,  fatal  to  life  and  resulting  in  personal  injury. ...  269 
Number  of  passengers  who  must  travel  one  mile  to  cause  the  death  or  injury 

of  a  railway  servant ,.    07,, 


CONTENTS.  ivii 

Pago 

Table  showing  the  number  of  chances  to  one  against  accidents  producing  loss 
of  life  or  bodily  injury  to  a  railway  passenger  in  traveling  distances  from  10 
miles  to  10,000  miles ;  and  also  the  chances  against  his  being  the  cause  of  loss 

of  life  or  bodily  injury  to  a  railway  servant  in  such  a  journey 271 

Accidents  on  foreign  railways 272 

On  Belgian  railways 272 

Ratio  of  risks  on  Belgian  and  English  lines 272 

Accidents  on  French  railways 272 

Contrasted  with  accidents  by  stage  coaches  in  and  near  Paris 272 

Frequent  departures,  great  expedition,  and  numerous  stoppages  create  danger  of 

collision 274 

Liability  to  collision  with  express  trains 275 

Accidents  by  escaping  rails 275 

Neglect  of  points  and  switches 275 

Analytical  table  of  proportion  of  causes  of  accident  in  100  cases 276 

Number  of  brakes .276 

Accident  near  Wolverton  in  1847 276 

Rule  proposed  by  the  Board  of  Trade  277 

Similar  rule  in  France 277 

Greater  number  of  brakes  necessary  with  fast  trains 277 

Danger  of  bringing  train  to  rest  too  suddenly 277 

Danger  of  reversing  action  of  engine 277 

Fog  signals 278 

Consequences  of  collision  aggravated  by  manner  of  connecting  vehicles 278 

Derailment  of  carriages 279 

Necessity  of  adopting  means  of  watching  train 280 

Proposals  of  Great  Western  and  Northwestern 280 

Investigation  of  circumstances  producing  accidents  arising  from  imprudence  or 

want  of  vigilance  or  care 282 

Instances  from  reports  of  railway  commissioners 282 

Analysis  of  100  accidents  produced  by  imprudence  of  passengers 282 

Precautions  against  accidents 283 

PLAIN  RULES  FOR  RAILWAY  TRAVELERS  TO  AVOID  ACCIDENTS 284 


CHAPTER  XV. 

ELECTRIC    TELEGRAPH. 

Electric  Telegraph  suggested  in  early  part  of  present  century 296 

Only  within  twenty-five  years  invention  reduced  to  practice 296 

Electric  effects  now  used  as  signals 297 

lu  what  manner  signals  may  be  multipled  so  as  to  indicate  letters,  &c 300 

Principle  of  American  telegraph  explained 302 

By  this  system  correspondence  may  be  kept  secret 305 

Mode  of  forwarding  message  and  receiving  answer 306 

Charge  for  transmission 306 

Intelligence  of  the  morning  received  by  8  A.M.  in  the  country 307 

Modes  of  constructing  wires 307 

Extent  of  electric  communication  in  England  and  America 303 

East  India  Company  propose  to  lay  down  10,000  miles 308 

Cost  of  construction  in  England  and  America 308 


xviii  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

INLAND   TRANSPORT   IN   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

Page 

Natural  apparatus  of  internal  communication  in  United  States 308 

Canal  navigation 309 

Erie  Canal 310 

Extent  of  canals 311 

Total  cost,  and  cost  per  mile 311 

Extent  of  canals  as  compared  with  population 311 

River  and  coast  navigation  in  United  States 311 

Steam  navigation  on  Hudson 312 

Table  of  nine  Hudson  steamers  recently  built 315 

Explosions  on  eastern  rivers  rare 317 

Description  of  paddle-boards  and  mode  of  working  steam  in  steamers  of  eastern 

rivers 317 

Increased  dimension  of  vessels  attended  with  increased  economy 318 

Resistance  not  increased  by  increased  length 319 

Fares  reduced  with  increased  size  of  vessels 319 

Form  and  structure  of  Hudson  steamers 320 

Steam  navigation  of  other  American  rivers 323 

Mississippi  steamboats 323 

Ericsson's  propellers    325 

Table  of  sea-going  American  steamers  recently  built 326 

Railway  system  introduced 327 

Principally  in  Atlantic  States • 327 

Description  of  lines  constructed,  in  progress,  and  projected 328 

Management  of  steam  ferries 331 

Curves  of  small  radius  and  gradients  of  rapid  acclivity  adopted 335 

Great  economy  in  constructing  and  working  railways 335 

Ordinary  speed  330 

Railway  carriages  described 337 

Mode  of  moving  vehicles  through  curves 338 

Proportion  of  dead  to  profitable  weight 338 

Railways  carried  to  centre  of  cities 338 

Mode  of  turning  corners  of  streets 339 

Tabular  report  of  the  extent  of  the  lines  completed  and  under  traffic  in  June, 
1849;  the  length  of  lines  projected  but  not  completed;  the  cost  of  construction 
and  plant,  where  such  particulars  can  be  ascertained ;  the  last  dividends,  and 

the  average  prices  of  shares 339 

Tabular  analysis  of  the  movement  of  the  traffic  on  twenty-eight  principal  railways 

in  the  States  of  New  England  and  New  York  in  1847 343 

Proportion  of  railways  to  population 345 

Proportion  in  United  Kingdom 345 

Greater  in  United  States  than  the  United  Kingdom 345 

Basis  of  comparison  should  be  capital  expended 345 

Effects  of  easy  means  of  communication  in  United  States 346 

Passengers  not  classed  on  American  railways 346 

Small  transport  of  goods  on  American  railways 347 

Means  of  obtaining  act  for  railway 348 

State  generally  offers  inducements  to  companies 348 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

BELGIAN   RAILWAYS. 

Paep 

History  of  their  construction 349 

Constructed  at  national  expense 351 

Tabular  statement  of  the  progressive  increase  of  the  commerce  of  Belgium  during 

ten  years  ending  December  31,  1845 351 

Value  of  imports  and  exports  at  Antwerp 351 

Increase  in  production  of  coal 354 

And  in  other  branches  of  commerce 352 

Character  of  the  country  as  regards  construction  of  railways 352 

High  gradients  and  curves  of  small  radius  sometimes  adopted 353 

Railways  pass  roads  on  level,  where  practicable 353 

Cause  of  the  expedition  of  their  construction 353 

Cost  of  construction  and  stock 353 

Tabular  analysis  of  the  receipts,  expenses,  and  profits  arising  from  the  traffic 
carried  on  the  Belgian  railways  during  the  seven  years  ending  December  31, 

1847 354 

Synopsis  of  the  movement  on  the  Belgian  railways,  computed  from  official  docu- 
ments, during  the  four  years  ending  December  31,  1847 355 

Table  showing  the  average  amount  of  traffic  carried  daily  over  each  mile  of  the 

Belgian  railways  during  the  four  years  ending  December  31, 1847 358 

Diagram  of  local  variation  of  traffic 359 

Diagram  of  variation  of  daily  traffic  with  change  of  seasons 360 

Table  showing  the  number  of  each  class  of  passengers  in  every  100  booked,  the 
share  of  each  class  in  every  JOO  miles  traveled,  and  the  share  contributed  by 
each  class  to  every  .£100  receipts  on  the  Belgian  railways  during  the  four  years 

ending  December  31,  1847 361 

Tabular  analysis  of  the  traffic  on  the  Belgian  railways,  classified  according  to  the 
distances  over  which  the  objects  of  transport  were  severally  carried,  showing 
the  proportion  of  1000  objects  booked  of  each  class  which  was  carried  over 
each  specified  distance,  and  also  showing  the  proportion  per  1000  of  the  mile- 
age of  each  class  assignable  to  each  specified  distance 361 

Table  showing  the  share  of  every  £100  of  gross  revenue  contributed  by  each 
class  of  traffic  on  the  Belgian  railways,  during  the  four  years  ending  December 

31,1847 363 

Analysis  of  the  proportion  in  which  the  working  expenses  of  the  Belgian  railways 

were  distributed,  under  the  specified  heads,  in  the  four  years  ending  1847 363 

Synopsis  of  the  proportion  between  the  receipts,  expenses,  and  profits,  and  the 
length  of  line  worked,  the  movement  of  the  trains,  and  the  amount  of  capital  on 

the  Belgian  railways  during  the  seven  years  ending  December  31,  1847 364  ' 

Tabular  analysis  of  the  movement  of  the  passenger  traffic  on  the  principal  Belgian 
lines  of  railway,  showing  the  average  speed,  stoppages,  &c.  of  each  class  of 

trains 365 

Railways  completed  and  in  progress,  by  companies 364 

Estimated  cost  of  them 367 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

FRENCH    RAILWAYS. 

Page 

Introduction  of  passenger  railways  into  France  by  M.  Emile  Pereire 367 

Commission  appointed  by  Chambers  to  prepare  project  of  law  for  railways— con- 
cession to  Paris  and  Orleans  Company— concession  of  line  from  Paris  to  Rouen 

-law  of  11  June,  1842 308 

Railways  contemplated  by  this  law 370 

Railways  constructed,  in  progress,  and  projected 374 

Synopsis  of  the  length,  and  cost  of  construction  of  fifteen  of  the  principal  French 

railways 376 

Capital  required  for  French  railways 377 

Railway  companies  tenants  of  the  State 377 

State  executed  principal  portion  of  works 377 

Mode  of  offering  leases  to  public  competition 377 

Locomotive  and  carrying  stock 378 

Tabular  synopsis  of  the  average  daily  movement  of  the  locomotive  stock  of  the 

North  of  France  Railway  during  1848 379 

Tabular  synopsis  of  the  average  daily  movement  of  the  carrying  stock  on  the  • 

North  of  France  Railway  during  1848 379 

Tabular  synopsis  of  the  average  daily  movement  of  the  passenger  traffic,  and  the 

revenue  proceeding  from  it  on  the  principal  French  railways  during  1848 380 

Table  showing  the  proportion  of  business  supplied  to  the  principal  French  railways 
by  the  several  classes  of  passengers,  and  the  proportion  in  which  they  con- 
tributed to  the  receipts 382 

Tabular  analysis  of  the  daily  movement  and  daily  average  receipts  of  the  passen- 
ger traffic  on  ten  of  the  principal  French  railways  for  1848 383 

Table  showing  the  share  of  every  j£100  of  gross  revenue  contributed  by  each 

class  of  traffic  on  four  of  the  principal  French  railways 384 

Tabular  analysis  of  the  movement  of  the  goods  traffic,  and  the  receipts  proceed- 
ing from  it,  on  some  of  the  principal  French  railways 384 

Tabular  analysis  of  the  total  average  daily  receipts,  expenses,  and  profits  on  the 
principal  French  railways  during  1848,  showing  the  proportion  due  to  passen- 
gers and  goods 385 

Tabular  analysis  of  the  proportion  of  the  receipts,  expenses,  and  profits  on  the 
French  railways  chargeable  per  mile  run  by  the  trains  per  mile  of  the  lines 

worked,  and  per  cent,  of  the  capital  expended 385 

Tabular  analysis  of  the  movement  of  the  passenger  traffic  on  the  French  lines  of 
railway,  showing  the  average  speed,  stoppage,  &c.,  of  each  class  of  trains 386 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

GERMAN    RAILWAYS. 

German  railways  completed,  in  progress,  and  projected 387 

Table  showing  the  progress  of  the  railways  in  the  Germanic  States  during  the 

five  years  ending  December  31,  1849 392 

Table  showing  the  railways  of  the  Germanic  States,  distinguishing  those  which 
were  in  operation,  those  which  were  in  progress,  and  those  which  were  pro- 
jected but  not  commenced  in  1849 393 


CONTENTS.  xri 

Pnga 
Table  showing  the  proportions  in  which  the  German  railways  on  January  1, 1847, 

were  distributed  among  the  several  states 395 

Borne  railways  constructed  by  Government,  some  by  companies 395 

Prussian  Government  has  not  interfered  with  railways 390 

But  lias  reserved  a  power  of  redemption 396 

Railways  have  been  constructed  with  view  to  economy 396 

Curves  of  short  radius  admitted 396 

Table  showing  the  prevailing  gradients  and  curves  on  the  principal  railways  of 
the  Germanic  States,  as  well  as  the  exceptional  gradients  of  steeper  acclivities, 

the  exceptional  curves  of  shorter  radius  where  they  occur 397 

No  difficulty  in  working  lines  with  exceptional  gradients  and  curves 398 

Self-acting  planes  adopted 398 

Mode  of  working  traffic  on  them 398 

Narrow  gauge  generally  adopted 399 

Form  and  weight  of  rails 399 

Table  of  details  of  construction  of  principal  German  lines 400 

Table  showing  the  estimated  cost  of  construction  of  the  railways  of  the  Germauic 

States  to  be  completed,  in  progress,  and  projected 401 

Average  annual  expenditure 401 

Causes  of  low  rate  of  cost  of  German  railways 402 

Table  showing  the  average  cost  of  land  per  acre,  and  the  average  wages  of  earth- 
work laborers  per  day  on  the  principal  German  railways 402 

Table  showing  the  cost  of  construction  per  running  mile  of  each  of  the  principal 
German  railways,  with  the  share  of  the  total  expenses  assigned  to  each  head.  403 

Traffic  small  as  compared  with  English  and  other  continental  lines 403 

Mode  of  working  traffic 403 

Three  classes  of  passengers 403 

No  classification  of  trains 404 

Mixed  trains,  which  generally  take  goods 404 

Table  showing  the  number  of  trains  daily  which  depart  from  each  of  the  termini 
of  the  principal  German  railways,  distinguishing  those  which  go  from  terminus 

to  terminus  from  those  which  ply  to  intermediate  stations 404 

Locomotive  engines  first  supplied  by  foreign  manufacturers 405 

But  now  extensive  factories  in  Germany 405 

Table  showing  the  dimensions  of  the  locomotive  engines  used  on  the  principal 

German  railways 406 

Table  showing  the  magnitade  and  average  cost  of  the  vehicles  of  transport  used 

on  the  principal  German  lines 406 

Vehicles  of  transport  described ,  407 

Tabular  analysis  of  the  average  daily  traffic  in  passengers  and  goods  on  the  Ger- 
man railways  during  the  year  184G 407 

Table  showing  the  average  distance  carried,  and  the  average  receipts  obtained, 
per  head  or  per  ton  per  mile,  from  the  passengers  and  goods  transported  on  the 

principal  German  railways  during  the  year  1840 409 

Third  class  a  large  proportion  of  passengers 409 

Tabular  analysis,  showing  the  number  of  passengers  belonging  to  each  class  in 

every  100  booked  on  sixteen  of  the  principal  German  railways '. 410 

Average  fares 410 

Average  Tariffs '. . .  410 

Table  showing  the  average  receipts  per  mile  and  per  cent,  of  cost  of  construc- 
tion on  several  railways  during  the  four  successive  years  ending  December, 

1846  411 

Gross  receipts  on  2000  miles  of  railway  in  1845  and  1846 411 


CONTENTS. 


Do  not  exceed  0  per  cent,  on  capital  ..........................................  411 

Tabular  analysis  of  the  expenses,  receipts,  and  profits  on  several  German  railways 

during  the  year  1844  .......................................................  412 

Tabular  analysis  showing  the  receipts,  expenses,  and  profits  compared  with  the 

length  of  railway  worked  and  the  cost  of  construction  on  several  German  rail- 

ways during  the  year  1844  .................................................  412 

Tabular  analysis  of  the  movement  of  the  traffic  on  the  principal  German  railways, 

showing  the  average  speed,  stoppages,  &c.  of  each  class  of  train  .............  413 


CHAPTER  XX. 

RAILWAYS  IN  RUSSIA,  ITALY,  AND  SPAIN. 

Railways  in  Russia 414 

Advantages  offered  to  companies 414 

Railway  from  St.  Petersburgh  to  Moscow  constructed  by  the  State 415 

Other  railways 415 

Railways  in  Italy 415 

Railways  in  Spain 416 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

COMPARISON   OF   RAILWAY   TRANSPORT   IN   DIFFERENT   COUNTRIES. 

Comparative  progress  made  in  railways  in  different  countries 416 

Table  showing  the  population,  extent  of  territory,  and  extent  of  railway  in  opera- 
tion and  in  progress,  in  the  several  countries  of  the  world  where  railways  have 

been  constructed , 417 

Comparison  of  the  extent  of  railways  in  operation,  and  the  amount  of  railway 
capital,  with  the  population  and  territorial  extent  of  the  countries  which  pos- 
sess them 418 

Remarkable  results  of  this  table 418 

Comparative  view  of  the  movement  of  the  traffic  on  a  portion  of  the  railways  in 
operation  in  the  United  Kingdom,  the  United  States,  Belgium,  France,  and  the 
Germanic  States 420 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

RELATION   OF   RAILWAYS    TO    THE   STATE. 

Monopolies  necessarily  consequent  on  the  system  of  railways 422 

Some  states  have  assumed  entire  construction  and  working  of  lines,  in  others  a 

mixed  system  prevails 423 

In  almost  all  the  authority  of  the  State  asserted 423 

The  case  of  English  railway  companies  peculiar •. 424 

Whence  a  demand  for  control  met  by  directors  by  denial  of  right  of  Parliament  to 

interfere 424 

This  question  discussed 425 


CONTENTS.  xiiii 

Page 
Necessity  of  control  by  an  independent  body  admitted  by  all  but  railway  directors 

and  persons  influenced  by  them 426 

And  even  by  some  directors 426 

Question  of  the  authority  from  which  nomination  of  such  a  body  should  emanate 

discussed 426 

Absurdity  of  directors  and  impracticability  of  shareholders  making  nomination 

demonstrated 426 

Parliamentary  evidence  as  to  usual  audit  system 427 

Board  of  railway  control  properly  constituted 427 

Such  a  board  would  represent  interests  of  public  at  large 428 

And  must  be  perfectly  independent  of  directors 428 

Objects  of  control 428 

Views  of  the  House  of  Lords 428 

Parliamentary  evidence  and  Lords'  report  as  to  question  of  capital  and  revenue. .'  430 
Powers  hitherto  conferred  on  shareholders  insufficient  to  guard  against  abuses. . .  431 
Necessity  of  ample  and  unreserved  publicity  in  railway  management  insisted  on  431 
By  which  means  public  at  large  would  become  one  great  and  unquestionable  board 

of  control 432 

Details  necessary  in  well  organized  system  of  railway  accounts 433 

Most  of  such  details  furnished  in  annual  reports  of  continental  railways  . .  435 

Advantage  of  employing  a  self-acting  counter  to  register  mileage 436 

Necessity  of  a  statistical  bureau  in  each  railway  administration 437 


RAILWAY  ECONOMY. 


CHAPTER  I. 

INFLUENCE    OF    IMPROVED    TRANSPORT    ON   CIVILIZATION. 

1.  THE  Art  by  which  the  products  of  labor  and  thought,  and 
the  persons  who  labor  and  think,  are  transferred  from  place  to 
place,  is,  more  than  any  other,  essential  to  social  advancement. 
Without  it  no  other  art  can  progress.  A  people  who  does  not 
possess  it  can  not  be  said  to  have  emerged  from  barbarism.  A 
people  who  has  not  made  some  advances  in  it  can  not  yet  have 
risen  above  a  low  state  of  civilization.  Nevertheless,  this  art  has 
been,  of  all  others,  the  latest  in  attaining  a  state  of  perfection, 
so  late,  indeed,  that  the  future  historian  of  social  progress  will 
record,  without  any  real  violation  of  truth,  that  its  creation  is 
one  of  the  events  which  have  most  eminently  signalized  the 
present  age  and  generation.  For,  although  transport  by  land 
and  water  was  practiced  by  our  forefathers,  its  condition  was 
so  immeasurably  below  that  to  which  it  has  been  carried  in  our 
times,  that  a  more  adequate  idea  of  its  actual  state  will  be  con- 
veyed by  calling  it  a  new  art,  than  by  describing  it  as  an  im- 
provement on  the  old  one. 

But  if  human  invention  have  been  late  in  directing  its  powers 
to  this  object,  it  must  be  admitted  to  have  nobly  compensated  for 
the  tardiness  of  its  action  by  the  incomparable  rapidity  of  ad- 
vancement it  has  produced,  when  once  they  have  been  brought 
into  play.  Within  an  hundred  years  more  has  been  accom- 
plished in  facilitating  and  expediting  intercommunication  than 
was  effected  from  the  creation  of  the  world  to  the  middle  of 
the  last  century.  This  statement  may,  perhaps,  appear  strained 
and  exaggerated,  but  it  will  bear  the  test  of  examination. 
B 


£6  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  I. 

The  geographical  conditions  of  the  world,  the  distribution  of 
the  people  who  inhabit  it,  and  the  exclusive  appropriation  of 
its  natural  productions  destined  for  their  use,  to  the  various 
countries  of  which  it  consists,  have  imposed  on  mankind  the 
necessity  of  intercommunication  and  commerce.  Commerce  is 
nothing  more  than  the  interchange  of  the  productions  of  in- 
dustry between  people  and  people.  Such  interchange  presup- 
poses the  existence  of  the  art  of  transport  by  land  and  water. 
In  proportion  to  the  perfection  of  this  art  will  be  the  extent  of 
commerce. 

A  people  incapable  of  communicating  with  others  must  subsist 
exclusively  upon  the  productions  of  its  own  labor  and  its  own 
soil.  But  nature  has  given  us  desires  after  the  productions  of 
other  soils  and  other  climates.  Besides  this,  the  productions  of 
each  particular  soil  or  country  are  obtainable  in  superfluity. 
They  are  infinitely  more  in  quantity  than  the  people  by  whom 
and  amid  whom  they  are  produced  have  need  of;  while  other 
and  distant  peoples  are  in  a  like  situation,  having  a  superfluity 
of  some  products  and  an  insufficiency  or  a  total  absence  of  others. 
The  people  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia  have  a  superfluity 
of  cotton,  the  people  of  the  West  India  Islands  have  a  super- 
fluity of  coffee  and  tobacco,  the  people  of  Louisiana  have  n 
superfluity  of  sugar,  the  people  who  inhabit  the  vast  valley  of 
the  Upper  Mississippi  and  Missouri  have  a  superfluity  of  corn 
and  cattle,  the  people  of  civilized  Europe  have  a  superfluity  of 
the  products  of  mechanical  labor,  those  of  France  have  a  super- 
fluity of  silk  goods,  those  of  England  of  manufactured  cotton, 
porcelain,  and  hardware.  Each  of  these  various  peoples  is  able 
and  willing  to  supply  the  others  with  those  productions  in  which 
themselves  abound,  and  to  receive  in  exchange  those  of  which 
they  stand  in  need,  and  which  abound  elsewhere. 

But,  to  accomplish  such  interchanges,  means  of  transport 
must  be  provided,  and  this  transport  must  be  sufficiently  cheap, 
speedy,  safe,  and  regular,  to  enable  these  several  productions 
to  arrive  with  their  consumers,  and  be  delivered  on  such  terms 
and  conditions  as  will  be  compatible  with  the  ability  of  the  con- 
sumer to  purchase  them. 

Among  the  advantages  which  attend  improved  means  of  trans- 
port, one  of  the  most  prominent  is  that  of  lowering  the  price  of 
all  commodities  whatever  in  the  market  of  consumption,  and 
thereby  stimulating  production.  The  price  paid  for  an  article 
by  its  consurm-r  consists  of  two  elements:  1st,  the  price  paid 
for  the  article  to  its  producer  at  the  place  of  its  production  ;  and, 


CHAP.  I.]    INFLUENCE  OF  IMPROVED  TRANSPORT.  27 

2dly,  the  expense  of  conveying  it  from  that  place  to  the  con- 
sumer. In  this  latter  element  is  included  the  cost  of  its  trans- 
port and  the  commercial  expenses  connected  with  such  trans- 
port. These  last  include  a  variety  of  items  which  enter  largely 
into  the  price  of  the  commodity,  such  as  the  cost  of  the  trans- 
port, properly  so  called,  the  interest  on  the  price  paid  to  the 
producer  proportionate  to  the  time  which  elapses  before  it 
reaches  the  consumer,  the  insurance  against  damage  or  loss 
during  the  transport.  This  insurance  must  be  paid  directly  or 
indirectly  by  the  consumer.  If  it  be  not  effected  by  those  who 
convey  the  commodity  to  the  consumer,  the  value  of  the  goods 
which  may  be  lost  or  damaged  in  the  transport  will  necessarily 
be  charged  in  the  price  of  those  which  arrive  safe.  In  either 
case  the  consumer  pays  the  insurance.  There  are  also  the 
charges  for  storage,  packing,  transhipment,  and  a  variety  of  other 
commercial  details,  the  total  of  which  forms  a  large  proportion 
of  the  ultimate  price  paid  by  the  consumer. 

In  many  cases,  these  expenses  incidental  to  transport  amount 
to  considerably  more  than  half  the  real  price  of  the  article  ;  in 
some  they  amount  to  three-fourths  or  four-fifths,  or  even  a  larger 
proportion. 

Let  us  take  the  example  of  raw  cotton  produced  on  the  plains 
of  South  Carolina  or  Georgia.  This  article  is  packed  in  bales 
by  the  producer  at  the  place  of  production.  These  are  then 
transported  to  Charleston  or  Savannah,  whence  they  are  ex- 
ported to  Liverpool.  Arriving  at  Liverpool,  they  are  trans- 
ferred upon  the  railway,  by  which  they  are  transported  to  Man- 
chester, Stockport,  Preston,  or  some  other  seat  of  manufacture. 
The  raw  material  is  there  taken  by  the  manufacturer,  spun 
into  thread,  woven  into  cloth,  bleached  and  printed,  glazed,  and 
finished  for  the  consumers.  It  is  then  repacked,  and  again 
placed  on  the  railway  and  transported  once  more  to  Liverpool, 
when  it  is  re-embarked  for  Charleston  and  Savannah,  for  ex- 
ample. Arriving  there,  it  is  again  placed  on  a  railway  or  in  a 
steam-boat,  and  is  transported  to  the  interior  of  the  country,  and 
finally  returns  to  the  very  place  at  which  it  originally  grew,  and 
is  repurchased  by  its  own  producer.  Without  going  into  arith- 
metical details,  it  will  be  abundantly  apparent  how  large  a  pro- 
portion of  the  price  thus  paid  for  the  manufactured  article  is  to 
be  placed  to  the  account  of  the  transport  and  commercial  ex- 
penses. The  article  has  made  the  circuit  of  almost  half  the 
globe  before  it  has  found  its  way  back  in  its  manufactured  state. 

The  products  of  agricultural  labor  have,  in  general,  great 


28  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  I. 

bulk  with  proportionately  small  value.  The  cost  oftransport  has 
consequently  a  great  influence  upon  the  price  of  these  in  the 
market  of  consumption.  Unless,  therefore,  this  transport  can 
be  effected  with  considerable  economy,  these  products  must  be 
consumed  on  the  spot  where  they  are  produced. 

In  the  case  of  many  animal  and  vegetable  productions  of  agri- 
culture, speed  of  transport  is  as  essential  as  cheapness,  for  they 
will  deteriorate  and  be  destroyed  by  the  operation  of  time  alone. 
Without  great  perfection,  therefore,  in  the  art  of  transport, 
objects  of  this  class  must  necessarily  be  consumed  in  the  imme- 
diate neighborhood  of  the  place  where  they  are  raised.  Such 
are,  for  example,  the  products  of  the  dairy,  the  farm-yard,  and 
the  garden. 

In  countries  where  transport  is  dear  and  slow,  there  con- 
sequently arises  great  disadvantage,  not  only  to  the  rural,  but 
also  to  the  urban  population.  While  the  class  of  articles  just 
referred  to  are  at  a  ruinously  low  price  in  the  rural  districts, 
they  are  at  a  ruinously  high  price  in  the  cities  and  larger  class 
of  towns.  In  the  country,  where  they  exist  in  superfluity,  they 
fetch  comparatively  nothing:  in  the  towns,  where  the  supply  is 
immeasurably  below  the  demand,  they  can  only  be  enjoyed  by 
the  affluent. 

But  if  sufficiently  cheap  and  rapid  means  of  transport  be  pro- 
vided, these  productions  find  their  way  easily  to  the  great  centres 
of  population  in  the  towns,  and  the  rural  population  which  pro- 
duces them  receives  in  exchange  innumerable  articles  of  use 
and  luxury  of  which  they  were  before  deprived. 

France,  one  of  the  most  civilized  states  of  Europe,  exhibits 
a  deplorable  illustration  of  this.  Notwithstanding  the  fertility 
of  her  soil,  the  number,  the  industry,  and  intelligence  of  her 
population,  the  products  of  every  description,  animal  and  vege- 
table, which  abound  in  her  territory,  yet,  from  the  absence  of 
sufficiently  easy  means  of  intercommunication,  these  advant- 
ages have  been  hitherto  almost  annihilated.  All  these  produc- 
tions, in  the  place  where  they  are  raised,  can  be  obtained  at  a 
lower  price  than  in  most  other  countries ;  and  yet,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  cost  of  transport,  they  would  attain,  if  brought  to 
the  place  where  they  are  in  demand,  a  price  which  would 
amount  to  a  prohibition  on  their  consumption.  From  this 
cause  the  industry  of  France  has  long  been  to  a  great  extent 
paralyzed. 

In  some  cases  the  price  of  an  article  at  the  place  of  consump- 
tion consists  exclusively  of  the  cost  of  transport.  An  article 


CHAP.  I.]    INFLUENCE  OF  IMPROVED  TRANSPORT.  29 

has  frequently  no  value  in  the  place  where  it  is  found,  which 
nevertheless  would  have  a  considerable  value  transported  else- 
where. Numerous  instances  of  this  will  occur  in  the  case  of 
manures  used  in  agriculture.  Every  reduction,  therefore,  which 
can  be  made  in  the  cost  of  the  transport  of  these,  will  tend  in  a 
still  greater  proportion  to  lower  their  price  to  those  who  use  them. 

Cases  even  occur  in  which  the  cost  of  transport  is  actually 
greater  than  the  price  paid  for  an  article  by  the  consumer. 
This,  which  would  seem  a  paradox,  is  nevertheless  easily  ex- 
plained. An  article  in  a  given  place  may  be  a  nuisance,  and  its 
possessor  may  be  willing  to  pay  something  for  its  removal. 
This  article,  however,  transported  to  another  place,  may  be- 
come eminently  useful,  and  even  be  the  means  of  stimulating 
profitable  production.  The  cleansing  the  common  sewers  of  a 
city  affords  a  striking  example  of  this.  The  filth  and  offal  which 
are  removed  are  a  nuisance  where  they  exist,  and  may  even  be 
the  cause  of  pestilence  and  death.  Transported,  however,  to 
the  fields  of  the  agriculturalist,  they  become  the  instruments  of 
increased  fertility.  Cases  may  be  cited  wkere  the  whole  cost 
of  transport  will  be  more  than  covered  by  the  sum  paid  for  the 
removal  of  the  nuisance.* 

Every  improvement  in  the  art  of  transport  having  a  tendency 
to  diminish  cost,  and  augment  speed  and  safety,  operates  in  a 
variety  of  ways  to  stimulate  consumption  and  production,  and 
thereby  advance  national  wealth  and  prosperity.  When  the 
price  of  an  article  in  the  market  of  consumption  is  reduced  by 
this  cause,  the  demand  for  it  is  increased  :  1st,  by  enabling 
former  consumers  to  use  it  more  freely  and  largely;  and,  2dly, 
by  placing  it  within  the  reach  of  other  classes  of  consumers  who 
were  before  compelled  to  abstain  from  it  by  its  dearness.  The 
increase  of  consumption  from  this  cause  is  generally  in  a  larger 
ratio  than  the  diminution  of  price.  The  number  of  consumers 
able  and  willing  to  pay  one  shilling  for  any  proposed  article  is 
much  more  than  twice  the  number  who  are  able  and  willing  to 
pay  two  shillings  for  the  same  article. 

But  consumption  is  also  augmented  in  another  way  by  this 
diminution  of  price.  The  saving  effected  by  consumers  who, 
before  the  reduction,  purchased  at  the  higher  price,  will  now 
be  appropriated  to  the  purchase  of  other  articles  of  use  or  en- 
joyment, and  thus  other  branches  of  industry  are  stimulated. 

*  In  Aberdeen  the  streets  are  swept  every  day,  at  an  annual  cost  of 
<£1400,  and  the  refuse  brings  in  662000  a  year.  In  Perth  the  scaveng- 
ing costs  d£l300  per  annum,  and  the  manure  sells  for  661730. 


30  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  I. 

The  improvements  which  cheapen  transport,  necessarily  in- 
cluding the  expenditure  of  less  labor  in  effecting  it,  might  seem, 
at  first  view,  to  be  attended  with  injury  to  the  industry  em- 
ployed in  the  business  of  transport  itself,  by  throwing  out  of 
occupation  that  portion  of  labor  rendered  superfluous  by  the 
improvement.  But  experience  shows  the  result  to  be  the 
reverse.  The  diminished  cost  of  transport  invariably  augments 
the  amount  of  commerce  transacted,  and  in  a  much  larger  ratio 
than  the  reduction  of  cost;  so  that,  in  fact,  although  a  less 
amount  of  labor  is  employed  in  the  transport  of  a  given  amount 
of  commodities  than  before,  a  much  larger  quantity  of  labor  is 
necessary  by  reason  of  the  vast  increase  of  commodities  trans- 
mitted. The  history  of  the  arts  supplies  innumerable  examples 
of  this.  When  railways  were  first  brought  into  operation  it 
was  declared,  by  the  opponents  of  this  great  improvement  (for 
it  had  opponents,  and  violent  ones),  that  not  only  would  an  im- 
mense amount  of  human  industry  connected  with  the  business 
of  land  carriage  be  utterly  thrown  out  of  employment,  but  also 
that  a  great  quantity  of  horses  would  be  rendered  useless.  Ex- 
perience was  not  long  in  supplying  a  striking  proof  of  the  fallacy 
of  this  prevision. 

The  moment  the  first  great  line  of  railway  was  brought  into 
operation  between  Liverpool  and  Manchester,  the  traffic  be- 
tween those  places  was  quadrupled,  and  it  is  now  well  known 
that  the  quantity  of  labor,  both  human  and  chevaline,  employed 
in  land  carriage  where  railways  have  been  established,  has  been 
increased  in  a  vast  proportion,  instead  of  being  diminished. 

In  1846  there  were  seventy-three  stage-coaches  or  lines  of 
omnibus  employed  in  the  transport  of  passengers  to  and  from 
the  several  stations  of  the  North  of  France  Railway,  which 
supplied  176  arrivals  and  departures,  had  5776  places  for  pas- 
sengers, and  employed  daily  979  horses.  In  the  six  months 
ending  31st  December,  1846,  these  coaches  transported  486,948 
passengers. 

Improvements  in  transport  which  augment  the  speed,  with- 
out injuriously  increasing  the  expense  or  diminishing  the  safety, 
are  attended  with  effects  similar  to  those  which  follow  from 
cheapness. 

A  part  of  the  cost  of  transport  consists  of  the  interest  on  the 
cost  of  production  chargeable  for  the  time  elapsed  between  the 
departure  of  the  article  from  the  producer  and  its  delivery  to 
the  consumer.  This  element  of  price  is  clearly  diminished  in 
the  exact  proportion  to  the  increased  speed  of  transport. 


CHAP.  I.]     INFLUENCE  OF  IMPROVED  TRANSPORT.  31 

But  increased  speed  of  transport  also  operates  beneficially  on 
commerce  in  another  way.  Numerous  classes  of  articles  of 
production  become  deteriorated  by  time,  and  many  are  absolutely 
destroyed,  if  not  consumed  within  a  certain  time.  It  is  evident 
that  such  articles  admit  of  transport  only  when  they  can  reach 
the  consumer  in  a  sufficiently  sound  state  for.  use  ;  various 
classes  of  articles  of  food  come  under  this  condition. 

While  the  Houses  of  Parliament  were  occupied  with  the 
numerous  railway  acts  which  had  been  brought  before  them,  a 
great  mass  of  evidence  was  produced  illustrating  the  advantages 
which  both  producer  and  consumer  would  obtain  by  the  increased 
cheapness  and  expedition  of  transport  which  railways  would 
supply.  It  was  shown  that  the  difficulties  attending  transport 
by  common  roads  affected,  in  an  injurious  manner,  the  grazier 
who  supplied  the  markets  with  veal  and  lamb.  Lambs  and 
calves  were  generally  sent  by  the  road  ;  and  when  too  young  to 
leave  the  mothers  for  so  long  a  time  as  the  journey  required, 
the  producer  was  obliged  to  send  the  ewes  or  cows  with  them 
for  at  least  a  part  of  the  way.  This  also  rendered  it  impossible 
to  send  them  to  market  sufficiently  young,  which  it  would  have 
been  advantageous  to  do,  that  the  mothers  might  feed  off 
earlier. 

But,  independently  of  this,  the  animals  of  every  species  driven 
to  market  on  the  common  roads  were  proved  to  suffer  so  much 
from  the  fatigue  of  the  journey,  that  when  they  arrived  at  mar- 
ket their  flesh  was  not  in  a  wholesome  state.  They  were  often 
driven  till  their  feet  wei'e  sore.  Sheep  frequently  had  their 
feet  literally  worn  off,  and  were  obliged  to  be  sold  on  the  road 
for  what  they  would  fetch.  Extensive  graziers  declared  that, 
in  such  cases,  they  would  be  gainers  by  a  safe  and  expeditious 
ti'ansport  for  the  animals,  "  even  though  it  cost  double  the  price 
paid  to  the  drovers." 

Butchers  engaged  in  large  business  in  London  proved  that 
the  cattle  driven  to  that  market  from  considerable  distances 
sustained  'so  much  injury  that  their  value  was  considerably  les- 
sened, owing  to  the  inferior  quality  of  the  meat,  arising  from 
the  animal  being  slaughtered  in  a  diseased  state ;  that  the  ani- 
mal, being  fatigued  and  overdriven,  "became  feverish,  his  looks 
became  not  so  good,  and  he  lost  weight  by  the  length  of  the 
journey  and  the  fatigue." 

It  was  shown  further,  that  even  steam-vessels,  when  they 
could  be  resorted  to,  did  not  altogether  remove  this  objection. 
Cattle  arriving  from  Scotland  in  steam-vessels  are  found  in 


32  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  I. 

London  to  be  in  an  unnatural  state;  "they  seem  stupefied,  and 
in  a  state  of  suffering  from  fatigue." 

It  ia  not  merely  the  fatigue  of  traveling  which  injures  the 
animal,  but  also  the  absence  from  its  accustomed  pasture.  The 
injury  from  this  cause  is  more  or  less,  under  different  circum- 
stances, but  always  considerable :  in  order  to  obviate  this,  a  large 
poi'tion  of  the  meat  supplied  to  the  London  market  was  slaugh- 
tered in  the  country,  and  came  in  this  state,  in  winter,  from 
distances  round  London  to  the  extent  of  one  hundred  miles. 
In  warm  weather  a  large  quantity  of  it  was  spoiled.  The  trans- 
port of  calves  and  lambs  from  a  distance  greater  than  thirty 
miles  is  altogether  impracticable  by  common  roads,  and  even 
from  that  distance  is  attended  with  difficulty  and  injury. 

To  convey  these  and  other  live  cattle  from  a  great  distance, 
not  only  speed  but  evenness  of  motion  is  indispensable.  Now 
these  two  requisites  can  not  be  combined  by  any  other  means 
than  the  application  of  steam-engines  upon  a  railroad. 

The  whole  of  the  evidence  showed  that  the  supply  of  animal 
food  to  the  metropolis  was  not  only  defective  in  quantity,  but 
of  unwholesome  quality — comparatively,  at  least,  with  what  it 
might  be,  if  the  tract  from  which  it  could  be  supplied  were 
rendered  more  extensive. 

But,  forcibly  as  the  evidence  bore  on  this  species  of  agricul- 
tural produce,  it  was  still  stronger  respecting  the  produce  of  the 
dairy  and  the  garden.  Milk,  cream,  and  fresh  butter,  vegetables 
of  every  denomination,  and  certain  descriptions  of  fruit,  are 
usually  supplied  exclusively  from  a  narrow  annulus  of  soil  which 
circumscribes  the  skirts  of  great  cities.  Every  artificial  expe- 
dient is  resorted  to,  in  order  to  extort  from  this  limited  portion 
of  land  the  necessary  supplies  for  the  population.  The  milk  is 
of  a  quality  so  artificial,  that  we  know  not  whether,  in  strict 
propriety  of  language,  the  name  milk  can  be  at  all  applied  to  it. 
The  animals  that  yield  it  are  fed,  not  upon  wholesome  and 
natural  pasturage,  but,  in  a  great  degree,  on  grain  and  similar 
articles.  It  will  not  be  supposed  that  the  milk  which  they  yield 
is  identical  in  wholesome  and  nutritious  qualities  with  the  article 
which  could  be  supplied  if  a  tract  of  land,  of  sufficient  extent  for 
the  pasturage  of  cattle,  was  made  subservient  to  the  wants  of 
such  cities.  Add  to  this  that,  inferior  as  must  be  under  such 
circumstances  the  quality  of  the  milk,  there  exists  the  strongest 
temptations  to  the  seller  who  retails  it,  to  adulterate  it  still  fur- 
ther before  it  finds  its  way  to  the  table  of  the  consumer. 

Since  the  introduction  of  transport  by  railways,  we  see  attach- 


CHAP.  L]     INFLUENCE  OF  IMPROVED  TRANSPORT.  33 

ed  to  the  fast  trains,  morning  and  afternoon,  numerous  wagons 
loaded  with  tier  over  tier  of  milk-cans  for  the  supply  of  the 
metropolitan  population.  Milk  is  thus  brought  from  pastures  at 
great  distances  from  the  cities  where  it  is  consumed.  In  Paris 
the  benefits  of  this  have  been  very  conspicuous. 

The  benefits  which  would  accrue  to  farmers  and  landlords,  as 
well  as  to  the  inhabitants  of  towns,  by  carrying  extensive  lines 
of  railroad  through  populous  districts,  connecting  them  with 
those  places  from  which  supplies  of  food  and  other  necessaries 
might  be  obtained,  are  always  considerable.  The  factitious 
value  which  tracts  of  land  immediately  surrounding  the  metrop- 
olis and  large  towns  acquire  from  the  proximity  of  the  markets, 
is  thus  modified,  and  a  portion  of  their  advantages  transferred 
to. the  more  remote  districts;  thus  equalizing  the  value  of  agri- 
cultural property,  and  rendering  it,  in  a  great  measure,  inde- 
pendent of  local  circumstances.  The  profit  of  the  farmer  and 
the  rent  of  the  landlord  are  augmented  by  the  reduced  cost  of 
transport,  while  the  price  paid  by  the  customer  is  diminished ; 
the  advantages  of  centralization  are  realized  without  incurring 
the  inconvenience  of  crowding  together  masses  of  people  within 
small  spaces,  and  the  whole  face  of  the  country  is  brought  to 
the  condition,  and  made  to  share  the  opportunities  of  improve- 
ment which  are  afforded  by  a  metropolis  and  by  towns  of  the 
larger  class. 

Steam  navigation  affords  many  striking  examples  of  like  ad- 
vantages obtained  in  the  transport  of  perishable  productions. 

Pines  are  now  sold  in  the  markets  of  England  which  are 
brought  from  the  West  Indies;  various  sorts  of  fruit  are  like- 
wise brought  from  the  countries  on  the  coast  of  Europe  which 
could  not  be  transported  in  sailing  vessels,  as  they  would  not 
keep  during  the  voyage.  Oranges  are  sent  in  large  quantities 
from  the  Havauna  to  New  Orleans  and  Mobile,  in  the  United 
States:  when  they  are  brought  by  sailing  vessels,  a  large 
proportion  of  the  cargo  is  lost  by  the  destruction  and  de- 
terioration of  the  fruit;  when  sent  by  steamers,  they  arrive 
sound. 

The  utility  of  an  article  often  depends  on  its  place.  Thus, 
what  is  useless  at  one  part  of  the  world  will  become  eminently 
valuable  if  transmitted  to  another.  We  have  already  given  ex- 
amples of  this  in  the  case  of  agricultural  manures.  Others 
present  themselves.  Ice,  at  mid-winter,  in  Boston,  Halifax,  or 
St.  John's,  has  no  value ;  but  this  ice,  properly  packed  and  em- 
barked, is  transmitted  to  the  Havanna  or  Calcutta,  where  a 


34  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  I. 

price  is  readily  obtained  for  it  which  pays  with  profit  the  cost 
of  the  voyage. 

Like  all  the  other  effects  of  improved  transport,  this  reacts 
and  produces  collateral  benefits.  The  ships  thus  enabled  to  go 
to  Calcutta  with  a  cargo  which  costs  nothing  and  produces  a 
considerable  profit,  instead  of  going  in  ballast,  which  would  be 
attended  with  a  certain  expense,  return  with  cargoes  which 
again  become  profitable  in  the  port  from  which  they  sailed,  and 
which  they  could  not  have  bought  with  profit  unless  aided  by 
the  expedient  just  mentioned. 

Important  as  are  improvements  in  the  transport  of  the  .pro- 
ducts of  industry,  they  are  less  so  than  those  which  facilitate 
the  transport  of  persons.  Here  speed  becomes  of  paramount 
importance.  In  the  case  of  the  products  of  industry,  the  time 
of  the  transport  is  represented  only  by  the  interest  on  the  cost 
of  production  of  the  article  transmitted. 

In  the  case  of  the  transport  of  persons,  the  time  of  trans- 
port is  represented  by  the  value  of  the  labor  of  the  travelers, 
and  their  expenses  on  the  road ;  and  as  travelers  in  general 
belong  to  the  superior  and  more  intelligent  classes,  their  time 
is  proportionally  valuable. 

When  cheapness  can  be  sufficiently  combined  with  speed, 
considerable  advantage  is  gained  by  the  operative  classes. 

The  demand  for  labor  in  the  several  great  centres  of  popu- 
lation varies  from  time  to  time,  sometimes  exceeding,  and 
sometimes  falling  short  of  the  supply.  In  the  latter  case,  the 
operative  having  little  other  capital  save  his  bodily  strength,  is 
reduced  to  extreme  distress,  nay,  often  even  to  mendicancy. 

In  the  former  case,  the  producer  is  compelled  to  pay  an  ex- 
cessive rate  of  wages,  which  falls  disadvantageously  on  the 
articles  produced,  in  the  shape  of  an  undue  increase  of  price, 
and  thereby  checks  consumption.  But  although  the  equilibrium 
between  supply  and  demand  in  the  labor  market  is  liable  to  be 
thus  deranged,  it  rarely  or  never  happens  that  it  is  subject  to 
the  same  derangement  in  all  the  centres  of  population.  Supply 
is  never  in  excess  every  where  at  once,  nor  is  it  in  all  places  at 
once  deficient.  Improvements  in  transport  which  will  render 
traveling  cheap,  easy,  and  expeditious,  so  ns  to  bring  it  within 
the  means  of  the  thrifty  and  industrious  operative,  will  enable 
labor  to  shift  its  place  and  seek  those  markets  in  which  the 
demand  is  greatest.  Thus,  the  places  where  the  supply  is  in 
excess  will  be  relieved,  and  those  where  the  demand  is  in  ex- 
cess will  be/ supplied. 


CHAP.  I.]     INFLUENCE  OF  IMPROVED  TRANSPORT.  35 

The  extent  of  soil  by  which  great  cities  are  supplied  with 
perishable  articles  of  food,  is  necessarily  limited  by  the  speed 
of  transport.  A  ring  of  country  immediately  about  a  great 
capital,  is  occupied  by  market-gardens  and  other  establishments 
for  supplying  the  vast  population  collected  in  the  city  with  their 
commodities.  The  width  of  this  ring  will  be  determined  by 
the  speed  with  which  the  articles  in  question  can  be  trans- 
ported. It  can  not  exceed  such  a  breadth  as  will  enable  the 
products  raised  at  its  extreme  limit  to  reach  the  centre  in  such 
a  time  as  may  be  compatible  with  their  fitness  for  use. 

It  is  evident  that  any  improvement  in  transport  which  will 
double  its  speed  will  double  the  radius  of  this  circle ;  an  im- 
provement which  will  treble  its  speed  will  increase  the  same 
radius  in  a  threefold  proportion.  Now,  as  the  actual  area  or 
quantity  of  soil  included  within  such  a  radius  is  augmented, 
not  in  the  simple  ratio  of  the  radius  itself,  but  in  the  proportion 
of  its  square,  it  follows  that  a  double  speed  will  give  a  fourfold 
area  of  supply,  a  triple  speed  a  ninefold  area  of  supply,  and  so 
on.  How  great  the  advantages  therefore  are,  which  in  this 
case  attend  increased  speed,  are  abundantly  apparent. 

So  far  as  relates  to  the  transport  of  persons,  the  advantages 
of  increased  speed  are  equally  remarkable.  The  population 
of  a  great  capital  is  condensed  into  a  small  compass,  and,  so  to 
speak,  heaped  together,  by  the  difficulty  and  inconvenience  of 
passing  over  long  distances.  Hence  has  arisen  the  densely 
populated  state  of  great  cities  like  London  and  Paris.  With 
easy,  cheap,  and  rapid  means  of  locomotion,  this  tendency,  so 
adverse  to  physical  enjoyment  and  injurious  to  health,  is  pro- 
portionally neutralized.  Distances  practically  diminish  in  the 
exact  ratio  of  the  speed  of  personal  locomotion.  And  here  the 
same  arithmetical  proportion  is  applicable.  If  the  speed  by 
which  persons  can  be  transported  from  place  to  place  be  doubled, 
the  same  population  can,  without  inconvenience,  be  spread  over 
four  times  the  area ;  if  the  speed  be  tripled,  it  may  occupy  nine 
times  the  area,  and  so  on. 

Every  one  who  is  acquainted  with  the  present  habits  of  the 
population  of  London,  and  with  those  which  prevailed  before 
the  establishment  of  railways  will  perceive  the  practical  truth 
of  this  observation.  It  is  not  now  unusual  for  persons  whose 
place  of  business  is  in  the  centre  of  the  capital,  to  reside  with 
their  families  at  a  distance  of  from  fifteen  to  twenty  miles  from 
that  centre.  Nevertheless,  they  are  able  to  arrive  at  their 
respective  shops,  counting-houses,  or  offices,  at  an  early  hour 


36  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  I. 

of  the  morning,  and  to  return  without  inconvenience  to  their 
residence  at  the  usual  time  in  the  evening.  Hence  in  all 
directions  round  the  metropolis  in  which  railways  are  extended, 
habitations  are  multiplied,  and  a  considerable  part  of  the  former 
population  of  London  has  been  diffused  in  these  quarters.  The 
same  will,  of  course,  be  applicable  to  the  country  which  sur- 
rounds all  other  great  towns.  It  is  felt  at  Paris,  Brussels,  and 
other  capitals  of  Europe,  just  in  the  same  proportion  in  which 
they  are  supplied  with  railway  communication. 

This  principle  of  diffusion,  however,  is  not  confined  to  the 
towns  only.  It  fextends  to  an  entire  country  when  well  inter- 
sected by  lines  of  easy,  rapid,  and  cheap  communication. 

The  population,  instead  of  being  condensed  into  masses,  is 
more  uniformly  diffused  ;  and  the  extent  of  the  diffusion  which 
may  be  thus  effected,  compatibly  with  the  same  degree  of 
intercourse,  will  be,  to  use  an  arithmetical  phrase,  in  the  direct 
proportion  of  the  square  of  the  speed  of  locomotion. 

The  common  average  of  the  speed  of  diligences  in  France 
and  other  parts  of  the  Continent,  is  two  leagues,  or  about  five 
miles  an  hour.  The  speed  of  stage-coaches  in  England,  before 
the  establishment  of  railways,  did  not  average  eight  miles  an 
hour.  According  to  the  principle  just  explained,  it  would  fol- 
low that  the  same  degree  of  intercourse  could  be  kept  up  in 
England  in  a  space  of  sixty-four  square  miles,  which  in  France 
could  be  maintained  only  within  twenty-five  square  miles. 
Since  the  establishment  of  railways  the  average  speed  upon 
these  lines  of  communication,  on  most  parts  of  the  Continent 
and  in  America,  is  fifteen  miles  an  hour.  By  this  improve- 
ment, so  far  as  it  has  been  carried,  as  compared  with  diligences, 
the  area  of  practical  communication,  or,  what  is  the  same,  of 
the  diffusion  of  the  population  compatible  with  a  given  degree 
of  intercourse,  has  been  augmented  in  the  ratio  of  the  square 
of  five  to  the  square  of  fifteen  ;  that  is,  in  a  ratio  of  twenty-five 
to  two  hundred  and  twenty-five.  In  other  words  the  same 
degree  of  intercourse  can  be  maintained  by  means  of  the  pres- 
ent railways  within  an  area  of  two  hundred  and  twenty-five 
square  miles,  as  could  be  previously  maintained  by  diligences 
within  an  area  of  twenty-five  square  miles. 

But  in  England,  where  the  average  speed  of  railway  transit 
is  much  greater,  this  power  of  diffusion  is  proportionally  in- 
creased. Assuming  the  average  speed  on  English  raihvays  at 
twenty-five  miles  an  hour,  which  is  less  than  its  actual  amount, 
the  power  of  intercommunication  thus  obtained  will  bear  to  that 


CHAP.  I.]    INFLUENCE  OF  IMPROVED  TRANSPORT.  37 

obtained  on  the  continent  of  Europe  where  railways  are  in 
operation,  the  ratio  of  the  square  of  twenty-five  to  the  square 
of  fifteen  ;  that  is,  of  six  hundred  and  twenty-five  to  two  hund- 
red and  twenty-five,  or  of  twenty-five  to  nine. 

Thus,  the  English  railways  afford  the  same  facilities' of  com- 
munication within  an  area  of  twenty-five  square  miles  as  is 
afforded  by  the  continental  railways  within  an  area  of  nine 
square  miles ;  and  thus,  by  augmenting  the  speed  from  fifteen 
to  twenty-five  miles  an  hour,  the  practical  convenience  to  the 
public  is  augmented  in  the  ratio  of  nine  to  twenty-five,  or  very 
nearly  as  three  to  one. 

The  importance  of  good  internal  communications  in  military 
affairs  has  long  been  acknowledged.  By  the  possession  of  such 
means  of  transport  as  may  enable  a  body  o«f  troops,  with  their 
arms  and  ammunition,  to  be  transported  promptly  and  rapidly 
from  one  part  of  the  country  to  another,  the  standing  army, 
maintained  as  well  for  the  purpose  of  order  at  home  as  for  the 
defense  of  the  frontiers,  may  be  diminished  in  proportion  to 
such  facilities. 

Instead  of  maintaining  garrisons  and  posts  at  points  of  the 
country  within  short  distances  of  each  other,  it  will  be  sufficient 
to  maintain  them  at  such  points  that  they  can,  at  need,  be  trans- 
ported with  promptitude  to  any  other  point  that  may  be  desired. 
In  case  of  invasion,  or  any  foreign  attack  on  the  frontier,  by 
good  internal  communications,  the  troops  quartered  throughout 
the  interior  can  be  rapidly  transferred  and  concentrated  upon 
the  point  attacked. 

If,  however,  such  improvements  in  the  art  of  transport  facilitate 
the  means  of  maintaining  order  at  home  and  of  defense  against 
a  foreign  enemy,  on  the  one  hand,  they  also  happily,  on  the 
other,  greatly  diminish  the  probability  of  a  necessity  for  such 
expedients.  "  The  natural  effect  of  commerce,"  says  Montes- 
quieu, "is  to  tend  to  and  consolidate  peace."  Two  nations  who 
trade  with  each  other  soon  become  respectively  dependent.  If 
one  have  an  interest  to  buy,  the  other  has  an  interest  to  sell, 
and  a  multitude  of  ties,  commei-cial  and  social,  spring  out.  of  their 
mutual  wants. 

Nothing  facilitates  and  develops  commercial  relations  so 
effectually  as  cheap  and  rapid  means  of  intercommunication. 
When,  therefore,  all  nations  shall  be  found  more  intimately 
connected  with  each  other  by  these  means,  they  will  inevitably 
multiply  their  exchanges,  and  general  commerce  will  undergo 
great  extension,  mutual  interest  will  awaken  moral  sympathies, 


38  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  I. 

and  will  lead  to  political  alliances.  After  having  for  ages  ap- 
proached each  other  only  for  war,  peoples  will  henceforward 
visit  each  other  for  purposes  of  amity  and  intelligence,  and  old 
antipathies,  national  and  political,  which  have  so  long  divided  and 
ruined  neighboring  states,  will  speedily  vanish. 

But  if,  in  spite  of  this  general  tendency  toward  pacific  progress 
and  peace,  war  should  occasionally  break  out,  the  improved  means 
of  intercommunication  will  aid  in  bringing  jt  to  a  prompt  close. 
A  single  battle  will  decide  the  fate  of  a  country,  and  the  longest 
war  will  be  probably  circumscribed  within  a  few  months. 

The  advantages  of  good  means  of  communication  in  the  diffu- 
sion of  knowledge,  and  the  increase  of  civilization  by  intellectual 
means,  are  not  less  considerable.  While  the  means  of  inter- 
communication are  slow,  difficult,  and  costly,  great  cities  have  a 
tendency  to.monopolize  intelligence,  civilization,  and  refinement. 
There  genius  and  talent  are  naturally  attracted,  while  the  rural 
districts  are  left  in  a  comparatively  rude  and  almost  barbarous 
state.  With  easy  and  rapid  means  of  locomotion,  however,  the 
best  part  of  the  urban  population  circulates  freely  through  the 
country.  This  interfusion  improves  and  civilizes  the  rural 
population.  The  highest  intelligence  will  be  occasionally  found, 
both  in  public  and  in  private,  diffusing  knowledge  and  science 
in  the  remotest  villages.  We  can  not  now  take  up  a  London 
journal  without  observing  announcements  of  men  distinguished 
in  the  various  branches  of  knowledge  and  art,  visiting  the  various 
towns  and  villages  of  the  provinces,  and  delivering  there  lectures 
on  science,  and  entertainments  and  exhibitions  in  the  fine  arts. 
So  rapid  are  the  communications,  that  it  is  frequently  announced 
that  this  or  that  professor  or  artist  will,  on  Monday  evening, 
deliver  a  lecture  or  entertainment  in  Liverpool,  on  Tuesday  in 
Manchester,  on  Wednesday  in  Preston,  on  Thursday  in  Halifax, 
on  Friday  in  Leeds,  and  so  forth. 

Nor  is  this  all.  The  aspirations  of  the  present  generation  after 
J;he  spread  of  knowledge  and  the  advancement  of  mind,  unsatis- 
fied with  a  celerity  of  transmission  so  rapid  by  the  railway,  which 
literally  has  the  speed  of  the  wind,  has  provoked  from  human 
invention  still  greater  wonders.  The  Electric  Telegraph  for 
the  transmission  of  intelligence,  in  the  most  literal  sense  of  the 
term,  annihilates  both  space  and  time.  The  interval  which 
elapses  between  the  transmission  of  a  message  from  London  and 
its  delivery  at  Edinburgh,  provided  the  line  is  uninterrupted,  is 
absolutely  inappreciable. 

This  system  is  now  spreading  throughout  the  whole  civilized 


CHAP.  L]     INFLUENCE  OF  IMPROVED  TRANSPORT.  39 

world.  The  United  States  of  America  are  overspread  with  a 
net-work  of  electricity.  The  President's  message  delivered  at 
Washington,  was  transmitted  from  thence  to  St.  Louis,  on  the 
confines  of  the  state  of  Missouri,  a  distance  of  about  1200  miles, 
in  an  hour.  The  news  from  Europe  arriving  at  Boston  by  the 
Cunard  steamers,  is  often  transmitted  to  New  Orleans,  over 
almost  the  entire  territory  of  the  United  States  from  north  to 
south,  a  distance  of  nearly  2000  miles,  in  less  time  than  would 
be  necessary  to  commit  it  to  paper.  Even  the  small  delay  that 
now  exists  arises,  not  from  any  imperfection  in  the  instrument 
of  transmission,  but  merely  from  the  line  of  electric  communi- 
cation being  interrupted  fi'om  point  to  point,  and  transferred 
from  one  system  of  telegraphs  to  another,  at  several  intermediate 
stations.  After  improvements  shall  remove  such  delays  as  these, 
we  shall  probably  see  intelligence  conveyed  in  an  instant  over  a 
quadrant  of  the  globe. 

But  if  we  would  seek  for  a  striking  illustration  of  the  effects 
of  the  rapid  transmission  of  intelligence  by  the  combination  of 
all  the  various  expedients  supplied  by  science  to  art,  it  is  in  the 
practice  of  Journalism  that  we  are  to  look  for  them,  and  more 
especially  in  the  great  enterprises  of  the  London  newspapers. 
The  proprietors  of  a  single  morning  journal  are  able  to  maintain 
agencies,  for  the  transmission  of  intelligence  to  the  central 
office  in  London,  in  all  the  principal  cities  of  Europe,  besides 
roving  correspondents  wherever  the  prevalence  of  war,  revolu- 
tion, or  any  other  public  event  exerts  a  local  interest.  These 
various  agents  or  "correspondents"  as  they  are  called,  not  only 
transmit  to  the  centre  of  intelligence  in  London  regular  dis- 
patches by  the  mails,  but  also,  on  occasion  of  emergency,  by 
special  couriers. 

These  dispatches  are  first  received  by  an  agent  at  Dover,  by 
whom  they  are  forwarded  to  London  by  a  special  messenger. 
But  in  cases  where  intelligence  arrives  of  adequate  importance, 
this  Dover  agent  sends  it  to  London,  in  an  abridged  form,  by 
the  electric  telegraph,  thus  anticipating  the  detailed  dispatches 
by  about  three  hours.  Within  two  hours  of  its  arrival  the  in- 
telligence is  in  the  hands  of  the  London  public. 

That  portion  of  the  journal  intended  for  the  provinces  is  sent 
to  press  at  3  A.M.;  and  by  the  activity  of  the  editors,  reporters, 
and  compositors,  all  of, whom  work  during  the  night,  it  includes 
not  only  the  detailed  reports  of  the  Houses  of  Pai-liament,  which 
often  sit  to  a  late  hour  in  the  morning,  but  also  the  foreign  news 
received  from  Dover,  as  above  explained,  by  electric  telegraph. 


40  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  I. 

This  earliest  impression  is  printed  and  delivered  to  the  news- 
venders,  in  sufficient  time  to  be  dispatched  to  the  provinces  by 
the  eai'ly  railway  trains,  and  it  is  thus  delivered  at  all  the  stations 
along  the  road. 

The  part  of  the  impression  intended  for  London  circulation  is 
worked  off  and  delivered  later. 

Thus  we  see  that,  by  these  combinations  of  enterprise,  intel- 
lectual and  material,  the  intelligence  which  arrives  in  London  at 
3A.M.,  is  written,  composed,  printed,  and  distributed  within  a 
radius  of  one  hundred  miles  round  London,  and  in  the  hands  of 
the  population  before  their  customary  hour  of  breakfast. 

Even  before  the  present  improved  methods  of  transport  were 
brought  into  operation,  wonders  in  this  way  were  effected. 

Thus,  in  some  cases  where  debates  of  adequate  public  interest 
took  place  in  Parliament  in  the  evening,  the  evening  mails  (for 
there  were  then  no  other)  carried  to  the  provinces  the  first  part 
of  an  important  speech,  reported  and  printed  before  the  remain- 
ing part  was  spoken.  Thus  it  was  related  that  the  commence- 
ment of  Mr.  (since  Lord)  Brougham's  celebrated  speech  on  the 
reform  of  the  laws  was  read  at  tea-tables  twenty  miles  from 
London  before  he  had  pronounced  the  peroration. 

Few  of  the  numerous  readers  of  newspapers  have  the  least 
idea  of  the  immense  commercial,  social,  and  intellectucil  powers 
wielded,  and  benefits  conferred,  by  these  daily  publications,  a 
large  portion  of  which  influence  is  to  be  ascribed  to  the  cheap- 
ness, promptitude,  and  rapidity  with  which  they  are  transmitted 
from  the  capital  to  all  parts  of  the  country. 

It  is  commonly  estimated,  that  the  average  number  of  copies 
of  the  most  widely  circulating  London  journal  which  are  daily 
issued  amounts  at  present  to  little  less  than  forty  thousand. 
Each  of  these-  forty  thousand  copies,  according  to  common 
estimation,  passes  under  the  eyes,  upon  an  average,  of  at  least 
ten  persons.  Thus  we  have  four  hundred  thousand  daily  readers 
of  one  organ  of  information  and  intelligence.  But  the  effects  do 
not  end  there.  These  four  hundred  thousand  readers,  long  be- 
fore the  globe  completes  a  revolution  on  its  axis,  become  four 
hundred  thousand  talkers,  and  have  vastly  more  than  four  hun- 
dred thousand  hearers.  Thus  they  spread  more  widely  by  the 
ear  the  information,  the  arguments,  and  the  opinions  they  have 
received  through  the  eye.  We  shall  certainly  not  be  overstating 
the  result  if  we  assume,  that  this  influence  of  a  single  journal, 
directly  and  indirectly,  reaches  daily  a  million  of  persons. 


CHAPTER.  II. 

RETROSPECT  OP  THE  PROGRESS  OF  TRANSPORT. 

IN  the  first  attempts  at  an  interchange  of  the  products  of  in- 
dustry, which  mark  the  incipient  commerce  of  a  people  emerging 
from  barbarism,  human  labor  and  the  strength  of  the  inferior 
animals,  applied  in  the  most  rude  and  direct  manner  to  transport, 
are  all  the  means  brought  into  play.  The  peddler  and  the  pack- 
horse  perform  all  the  operations  of  interchange  which  take  place 
in  an  infant  society.  Pathways  are  formed  over  the  natural 
surface  of  the  ground,  in  a  course  more  or  less  direct,  between 
village  and  village.  The  beds  of  streams  following,  by  the  laws 
of  physics,  the  lowest  levels,  serve  as  the  first  indication  to  the 
traveler  how  to  avoid  steep  acclivities,  and  by  deviating  from 
the  most  direct  and  shortest  course,  to  obtain  his  object  with  a 
diminished  amount  of  labor. 

As  industry  is  stimulated  and  becomes  more  productive,  inven- 
tion is  brought  more  largely  into  play,  and  these  rude  expedients 
are  improved.  Wheel  carriages  are  invented,  but  the  earliest 
theatre  of  their  operations  is  the  immediate  surface  of  the  soil 
from  which  the  products  of  agriculture  are  raised.  They  are 
used  to  gather  and  transport  these  to  a  place  where  they  may 
be  sheltered  and  secured. 

But  to  enable  wheel  carriages  to  serve  as  the  means  of  trans- 
port between  places  more  or  less  distant,  the  former  horse-paths 
are  insufficient.  A  more  uniform  and  level  surface,  and  a  harder 
substratum,  become  indispensable.  In  a  word,  a  ROAD,  con- 
structed with  more  or  less  perfection,  is  necessary. 

These  roads,  at  first  extremely  rude  and  inartificial,  and  ren- 
dered barely  smooth  and  hard  enough  for  the  little  commerce 
of  an  infant  people,  are  gradually  improved.  The  carriages, 
also,  which  serve  as  the  means  of  transport  undergo  like  im- 
provement, until,  after  a  series  of  ages,  that  astonishing  instru- 
ment of  commerce,  the  modern  road,  results,  which  is  carried 
on  an  artificial  causeway,  and  reduced,  at  an  enormous  expense, 
to  a  nearly  level  surface  by  means  of  vast  excavations,  extensive 
embankments,  bridges,  viaducts,  tunnels,  and  other  expedients 
supplied  by  the  skill  and  ingenuity  of  the  engineer. 


42  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  II. 

Between  the  pack-horse,  used  in  the  first  stages  of  growing 
commerce,  and  such  a  road  with  its  artificial  carriages,  there  is 
a  prodigious  distance.  The  first  step,  from  the  pack-horse  to 
the  common  two-wheel  cart,  was,  in  itself,  a  great  advance. 

It  is  calculated  that  a  horse  of  average  force,  working  for 
eight  or  ten  houi-s  a  day,  can  not  transport  on  his  back  more 
than  two  hundred  weight,  and  that  he  can  carry  this  at  the  rate 
of  only  twenty-five  miles  a  day  over  an  average  level  country. 
The  same  horse,  working  in  a  two- wheel  cart,  will  carry  through 
the  same  distance  per  day  twenty  hundred  weight,  exclusive  of 
the  weight  of  the  cart.  By  this  simple  expedient,  therefore, 
the  art  of  transport  was  improved  in  the  ratio  of  one  to  ten ;  in 
other  words,  the  transport  which  before  was  effected  at  the  cost 
of  ten  pounds,  was,  with  this  expedient,  reduced  to  the  cost  of 
one  pound. 

The  adoption  of  expedients  for  the  maintenance  of  commerce 
so  obvious  as  roads,  would  seem  to  be  inevitable  among  a  people 
who  are  not  actually  in  a  state  of  barbarism.  Nevertheless,  we 
find,  that  not  only  was  the  construction  of  good  roads  for  com- 
mercial purposes  of  comparatively  recent  date,  but  that,  even 
at  the  present  day,  a  very  large  portion  of  that  part  of  the  world 
called  civilized  is  unprovided  with  them.  With  the  exception 
of  certain  parts  of  Europe,  the  French  colony  of  Algeria,  and 
the  United  States,  the  entire  surface  of  the  world  is  still  with- 
out this  means  of  intercourse, 

It  is  calculated  that,  of  the  entire  inhabited  part  of  the  globe, 
roads  do  not  exist  in  more  than  two-sevenths.  The  extensive 
empire  of  Russia,  with  the  exception  of  one  or  two  main  com- 
munications, such  as  that  between  Petersburg  and  Moscow,  is 
without  them.  In  general,  the  only  practicable  communications 
through  this  vast  territory  are  effected  in  winter  on  the  surface 
of  the  frozen  snow  by  sledges.  On  the  return  of  summer,  when 
the  snow  has  disappeared,  the  communications  become  extreme- 
ly difficult,  slow,  and  expensive.  Spain  is  scarcely  better  sup- 
plied with  roads  than  Russia,  nor  do  we  find  much  improvement 
in  the  practice  of  transport  in  Italy.  Until  recently,  Corsica 
possessed  no  communications  of  this  sort;  horses  and  mules 
were  the  common  means  of  communication  and  interchange  in 
that  island  until  the  French  government  constructed  some 
roads. 

The  roads  constructed  by  the  Romans  and  Egyptians  will 
probably  be  referred  to  as  instances  of  an  early  advance  in  this 
art.  But  these  great  monuments  of  antiquity,  though  serving 


CHAP.  II.]         THE  PROGRESS  OF  TRANSPORT.  43 

incidentally,  to  some  extent,  as  means  of  commerce,  were  con- 
structed for  exclusively  military  purposes. 

The  most  ancient  roads  which  are  recorded  in  history,  are 
those  constructed  by  order  of  Semiramis,  throughout  the  extent 
of  her  empire.  It  would  seem,  howevei-,  that  the  commerce 
of  that  day  did  not  find  these  communications  suitable  to  its 
objects;  for  it  is  certain  that,  at  the  epoch  at  which  Tyre  and 
Carthage  were  signalized  for  their  enterprise,  their  commerce 
was  almost  exclusively  carried  cm  by  the  coasting  navigation  of 
the  Mediterranean. 

Notwithstanding  the  advanced, stage  to  which  civilization  had 
arrived  in  Greece,  the  means  of  internal  communication  in  that 
country  remained  in  a  state  of  great  imperfection.  This  may 
in  part  be  explained  by  the  multitude  of  small  states  which 
formed  that  confederation,  by  their  conflicting  interests,  and 
their  want  of  any  moral  or  social  sympathies.  The  common 
sentiment  of  nationality  slumbered,  except  when  it  was  awak- 
ened by  the  strong  stimulus  of  foreign  attack.  The  intercourse 
between  one  centre  of  population  and  another  was  then  very 
restrained,  and  although  the  public  ways  were  placed  under  the 
protection  of  the  gods,  and  the  direction  of  the  most  consider- 
able men  of  the  respective  states,  they  were  suffered  to  fall 
into  neglect.  The  exigencies  of  internal  commerce  were  never 
sufficiently  pressing  to  excite  the  people  to  contribute  to  the 
maintenance  of  good  means  of  intercommunication  and  exchange. 

The  earliest  roads  which  were  really  rendered  conducive  to 
the  purposes  of  commerce  on  any  considerable  scale,  were  those 
constructed  by  the  Phenicians  and  Carthaginians.  To  the  latter 
is  ascribed,  by  Isidore,  the  invention  of  paved  roads. 

When  imperial  Rome  attained  the  meridian  of  her  power, 
and  her  empire  extended  over  a  large  portion  of  Europe  and 
Asia,  colossal  enterprises  were  entered  upon  for  the  construction 
of  vast  lines  of  communication,  extending  over  the  immensity 
of  her  territory.  These  roads,  however,  like  those  of  the 
Egyptians,  were  constructed  without  the  slightest  view  to  com- 
mercial objects.  It  concerned  imperial  Rome  but  little  that  her 
provinces  should  be  united  by  commercial  or  social  interests. 
What  she  looked  to  was  to  be  enabled  to  convey  with  celerity 
her  powerful  legions,  at  all  times,  from  one  extremity  of  her 
dominions  to  another.  With  this  purpose,  she  availed  herself 
of  her  vast  resources  to  construct  those  military  roads  intersect- 
ing her  territory,  the  remains  of  which  have  excited  the  admi- 
ration of  succeeding  generations, 


44  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  U. 

The  first  of  these  great  monuments  of  the  enterprise  and  art 
of  the  Roman  people,  were  those  so  well  known  by  the  names 
of  the  Via  Appia,  the  Via  Aurelia,  and  the  Via  Flaminia. 
Under  Julius  Caesar,  communications  were  made  by  paved 
roads  between  the  capital  of  the  empire  and  all  the  chief  towns. 
During  the  last  African  war,  a  paved  road  was  constructed  from 
Spain,  through  Gaul,  to  the  Alps.  Subsequently  similar  lines 
of  communication  were  carried  through  Savoy,  Dauphine, 
Provence,  through  Germany,  through  a  part  of  Spain,  through 
Gaul,  and  even  to  Constantinople. 

Asia  Minor,  Hungary,  and  Macedonia  were  overspread  with 
similar  lines  of  communication,  which  were  carried  to  the 
mouths  of  the  Danube.  Nor  was  this  vast  enterprise  obstructed 
by  the  intervention  of  seas.  The  great  lines  which  term- 
inated on  the  shores  of  continental  Europe  were  continued  at 
the  nearest  points  of  the  neighboring  islands  and  continents. 
Thus  Sicily,  Corsica,  Sardinia,  and  England,  and  even  Africa 
and  Asia,  were  intersected  and  penetrated  by  roads,  forming 
the  continuation  of  the  great  European  system. 

These  colossal  works  were  not  paths  rudely  prepared  for  the 
action  of  the  feet  of  horses  and  the  wheels  of  carriages,  by 
merely  removing  the  natural  asperities  from  the  surface  of  the 
soil.  They  were  constructed,  on  the  contrary,  on  principles  in 
some  respects  as  sound  and  scientific  as  those  which  modern 
engineering  has  supplied.  Where  the  exigencies  of  the  country 
required  it,  forests  were  felled,  mountains  excavated,  hills  lev- 
eled, valleys  filled  up,  chasms  and  rivers  bestridden  by  bridges, 
and  marshes  drained,  to  an  extent  which  would  suffer  little  by 
comparison  with  the  operations  of  our  great  road-makers  of 
modern  times. 

On  the  fall  of  the  empire,  these  means  of  communication,  in- 
stead of  subserving  the  purposes  of  the  commerce  of  the  people 
through  whose  territory  they  were  carried,  were,  for  the  most 
part,  destroyed.  When  the  barbarians  conquered  Rome,  and 
a  multitude  of  states  were  formed  from  its  ruins,  the  victors 
shut  themselves  up,  and  fortified  themselves  in  these  several 
states,  as  an  army  does  in  a  citadel ;  and,  far  from  constructing 
new  roads,  they  destroyed  those  which  had  already  existed,  as 
a  town  threatened  with  siege  breaks  those  communications  by 
which  the  enemy  may  approach  it. 

Fr6m  this  epoch,  through  a  long  series  of  ages,  the  nations 
of  Europe,  animated  only  by  a  spirit  of  reciprocal  antagonism, 
thought  of  nothing  but  war,  and  entered  each  other's  territories 


CHAP.  II.]          THE  PROGRESS  OF  TRANSPORT.  45 

only  for  the  purposes  of  conflict.  The  history  of  the  inter- 
communications of  nations  during  the  middle  ages  is  only  a 
history  of  their  wars. 

When  Europe  emerged  from  this  state,' and  when  commerce 
began  to  force  itself  into  life,  its  operations  were  in  a  great 
measure  monopolized  by  Jewish  and  Lombard  merchants,  who 
carried  them  on  subject  to  the  greatest  difficulty  and  danger. 

The  provincial  nobles  and  lords  of  the  soil,  through  whose 
possessions  the  merchants  necessarily  passed,  in  carrying  on 
the  internal  commerce  of  the  country,  were  nothing  better  than 
highway  robbers.  They  issued  with  their  bands  from  their 
castles,  and  arrested  the  traveling  merchant,  stripping  him  of 
the  goods  which  he  carried  for  sale. 

The  sovereigns  of  France  endeavored  in  vain,  by  penal  enact- 
ments, to  check  this  enormous  evil.  Dagobert  I.  established  a 
sort  of  code  to  regulate  the  public  communications  through  his 
dominions,  and  decreed  heavy  fines  against  such  provincial  lords 
as  might  obstruct  the  freedom  of  communication,  by  interrupting 
or  plundering  travelers.  These  decrees,  however,  remained  a 
dead  letter,  no  adequate  power  in  the  state  being  able  to  carry 
them  into  practical  effect. 

Under  the  successors  of  Charlemagne,  this  abuse,  which  it 
was  found  impossible  to  repress,  was  in  some  measure  recog- 
nized and  regularized.  Tolls  of  limited  amount  were  allowed 
to  be  exacted  by  the  local  proprietors  from  those  who  passed 
through  the  provinces  for  purposes  of  trade,  on  the  condi- 
tion that  such  travelers  and  merchants  should  be  otherwise  un- 
molested. 

The  prevalence  of  all  these  vexatious  impediments  soon  ren- 
dered intercommunication  by  land  almost  impracticable.  The 
roads,  such  as  they  were,  became  accordingly  deserted,  and 
were  suffered  to  fall  into  utter  disrepah-.  During  a  series  of 
ages,  internal  communication  and  internal  commerce  became 
almost  suspended  ;  a  journey  even  of  a  few  leagues  being  re- 
garded as  a  most  serious  and  dangerous  undertaking. 

The  crusades  had  a  favorable  influence  on  the  art  of  transport. 
The  population  of  Western  and  Northern  Europe  became  by 
them  acquainted  with  the  productions  and  arts  of  the  East. 
New  desires  were  excited,  and  new  wants  created.  Commerce 
was  thus  stimulated,  and  greater  facility  of  intercourse  becom- 
ing necessary,  governments  were  forced  to  adopt  expedients  for 
the  security  of  the  traveler. 

The  same  difficulties  and  dangers  did  not,  however,  affect 


46  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  II 

navigation.  We  find  this  art  developed  in  a  much  higher  degree 
than  that  of  internal  commerce.  Hence  arose  the  dispropor- 
tionate commercial  opulence  of  maritime  people.  The  British, 
the  Dutch,  and  the  Portuguese  rose  into  immense  commercial 
importance,  as  well  as  the  Genoese,  the  Tuscans,  and  the 
Venetians. 

Even  so  late  as  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century,  the 
roads  throughout  the  Continent  continued  in  a  condition  which 
rendered  traveling  almost  impracticable. 

They  are  described  by  writers  of  this  epoch  as  being  absolute 
sloughs.  Madame  de  Sevigny,  writing  in  1672,  says,  that  a 
journey  from  Paris  to  Marseilles,  which  by  the  common  roads 
of  the  present  day  is  effected  in  less  than  sixty  hours, *fequired 
a  whole  month. 

Besides  the  material  obstacles  opposed  to  the  growth  of  in- 
ternal commerce  on  the  Continent  by  the  want  of  roads  in  suf- 
ficient number,  and  the  miserable  state  of  those  which  did  exist, 
other  impediments  were  created  and  difficulties  interposed  by 
innumerable  fiscal  exactions,  to  which  the  trader  was  exposed, 
not  only  in  passing  the  confines  of  different  states,  but  even 
in  going  from  province  to  province  in  the  same  state,  and  in 
passing  through  almost  every  town  and  village.  Hence  the  cost 
of  every  commodity  was  enormously  enhanced,  even  at  short 
distances  from  the  place  of  its  production. 

The  disorganization  of  society  and  the  destruction  of  the 
institutions  of  feudalism  which  followed  the  French  Revolution 
of  1789,  caused  some  improvement  in  the  means  of  internal 
commerce  in  Europe,  and  would  have  caused  a  much  greater 
development  in  this  instrument  of  civilization,  but  for  the  wars 
which  immediately  succeeded  that  political  catastrophe,  and 
which  only  terminated  with  the  battle  of  Waterloo. 

Indeed  Napoleon,  conscious  of  the  vast  importance  of  a  more 
complete  system  of  roads,  had  actually  projected  one,  which  he 
intended  to  spread  over  Europe.  His  fall,  however,  intercepted 
the  realization  of  this  magnificent  design,  and  the  Simplon  re- 
mains as  the  only  monument  of  his  glory  in  this  department  of 
art. 

After  the  re-establishment  of  peace,  the  nations  of  Europe, 
directing  their  activity  to  industry  and  commerce,  soon  became 
impressed  with  the  necessity  of  effecting  a  great  improvement 


*  The  projected  railway  from  Paris  to  Marseilles  is  not  completed 
at  the  time  of  writing  these  pages  (October,  1 849) . 


CHAP.  II.]          THE  PROGRESS  OF  TRANSPORT.  47 

in  the  means  of  internal  communication.  Western  Europe, 
accordingly,  soon  began  to  be  covered  with  roads  and  canals. 
The  obstructions  arising  from  fiscal  causes,  if  not  removed, 
were  greatly  diminished. 

The  advance  made  by  France,  especially,  in  this  department, 
is  deserving  of  notice.  That  country  possesses  at  present  four 
or  five  times  the  extent  of  roads  which  were  practicable  under 
the  Empire;  a  sum  of  nearly  four  millions  sterling  was,  until 
lately,  expended  annually  upon  the  completion  and  maintenance 
of  these  great  lines  of  communication. 

The  roads  of  France  consist  of  three  classes  ;  the  first,  until 
the  late  revolution,  wei'e  called  royal  roads,  and  are  now  called 
national  roads.  These  are  the  great  arteries  of  communication 
carried  from  one  chief  town  to  another  throughout  the  territory, 
and  being  used  indifferently,  or  nearly  so,  by  the  whole  popula- 
tion, are  constructed  and  maintained  at  the  general  expense  of 
the  nation.  The  second  class  are  departmental  roads,  or  what 
would  be  called  in  England  county  roads.  These  are  chiefly 
the  branches  running  into  the  royal  roads,  by  which  the  local 
interests  of  the  departments  are  served,  and  are  accordingly 
maintained  at  the  expense  of  the  departments.  Finally,  the 
third  class  is  called  vicinal  roads,  which  would  correspond  to 
our  parish  roads. 

The  rate  at  which  these  improved  communications  have  con- 
tributed to  augment  the  internal  commerce  and  national  wealth, 
may  be  estimated  in  some  degree  from  the  statistical  results 
which  have  been  published.  In  1810,  the  various  stage-coach 
establishments  in  Paris  transported  each  day  from  the  capital 
into  the  departments,  two  hundred  and  twenty  passengers,  and 
twenty-one  tons  of  merchandise.  Before  the  establishment  of 
railways,  they  transported  nearly  one  thousand  passengers  and 
forty-five  tons  of  merchandise.  Thus  the  passengers  were  aug- 
mented in  a  fourfold,  and  the  merchandise  in  a  twofold  propor- 
tion. 

In  1815,  the  length  of  roads  in  operation  in  France  was  as 
follows :  there  were  three  thousand  leagues  of  royal  roads,  and 
two  thousand  leagues  of  departmental  roads.  In  1829,  there 
were  four  thousand  two  hundred  and  five  leagues  of  royal  roads, 
and  three  thousand  leagues  of  departmental  roads.  In  1844, 
there  were  eight  thousand  six  hundred  and  twenty-eight  leagues 
of  royal  roads,  and  nine  thousand  one  hundred  and  forty-six 
leagues  of  departmental  roads,  independently  of  twelve  thou- 
sand leagues  of  vicinal  roads.  Thus,  it  appears  that  between 


48  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  II. 

1815  and  1844,  the  total  length  of  roads  of  the  first  and  second 
classes  was  augmented  from  five  thousand  leagues  to  nearly 
eighteen  thousand,  or  in  the  proportion  of  three  and  a  half  to 
one. 

Although  the  practice  of  road  making  in  England  attained  a 
certain  degree  of  perfection  at  a  much  earlier  period  than  in 
other  parts  of  Europe,  and  the  united  kingdom  was  overspread 
with  a  noble  network  of  internal  communications,  while  conti- 
nental Europe  remained  in  a  comparatively  barbarous  condition, 
the  art  of  transport  nevertheless,  even  in  England,  remained 
for  a  long  series  of  ages  incalculably  behind  what  would  seem 
to  be  the  commercial  wants  of  the  population. 

The  first  English  roads  of  artificial  construction  were  those 
made  by  the  Romans,  while  England  was  a  province  of  that 
empire.  The  island  was  then  intersected  by  two  grand  trunk 
roads  running  at  right  angles  to  each  other,  the  one  from  north 
to  south,  and  the  other  from  east  to  west. 

These  main  lines  were  supplied  with  various  branches,  ex- 
tending in  every  direction  which  the  conquerors  found  it  expe- 
dient to  render  accessible  to  their  armies. 

The  Roman  road  called  Waiting  Street  commenced  from 
Richborough,  in  Kent,  the  ancient  Ruterpiac,  and,  passing 
through  London,  was  carried  in  a  northwesterly  direction  to 
Chester.  The  road  called  Ermine  Street  commenced  from 
London,  and,  passing  through  Lincoln,  was  carried  thence 
through  Carlisle  into  Scotland.  The  road  called  the  Fosse-way 
passed  through  Bath  in  a  direction  N.E.,  and  terminated  in  the 
Ermine  Street.  The  road  called  Ikenald  extended  from  Nor- 
wich in  a  southern  direction  to  Dorsetshire. 

But  these  great  works,  at  the  date  of  their  construction,  ex- 
ceeded the  wants  of  the  population,  who,  unconscious  of  their 
advantage,  allowed  them  to  fall  into  neglect  and  disrepair.  Nor 
were  any  new  roads  in  other  or  better  directions  constructed. 
For  a  succession  of  ages  the  little  intercourse  that  was  ma'in- 
tained  between  the  various  parts  of  Great  Britain  was  effected 
almost  exclusively  by  rude  footpaths,  traversed  by  pedestrians, 
or  at  best  by  horses. 

These  were  carried  over  the  natural  surface  of  the  ground, 
generally  in  straight  directions,  from  one  place  to  another.  Hills 
were  surmounted,  valleys  crossed,  and  rivers  forded  by  these 
rude  agents  of  transport,  in  the  same  manner  as  the  savages 
and  settlers  of  the  backwoods  of  America  or  the  slopes  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains  now  communicate  with  each  other. 


CHAP.  II. ]  THE  PROGRESS  OF  TRANSPORT.  49 

The  first  important  attempt  made  to  improve  the  communica- 
tions of  Great  Britain  took  place  in  the  reign  of  Charles  II.  In 
the  sixteenth  year  of  the  reign  of  that  monarch  was  established 
the  first  turnpike  road  where  toll  was  taken,  which  intersected 
the  counties  of  Hertford,  Cambridge,  and  Huntingdon.  It  long 
remained,  however,  an  isolated  line  of  communication ;  and  it 
was  little  more  than  a  century  ago  that  any  extensive  or  effect- 
ual attempts  were  made,  of  a  general  character,  to  construct  a 
good  system  of  roads  through  the  country. 

Until  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century,  most  of  the  mer- 
chandise which  was  conveyed  from  place  to  place  in  Scotland 
was  transported  on  pack-horses.  Oatmeal,  coals,  turf,  and  even 
hay  and  straw,  were  carried  in  this  manner  through  short  dis- 
tances ;  but  when  it  was  necessary  to  carry  merchandise  be- 
tween distant  places,  a  cart  was  used,  a  horse  not  being  able  to 
transport  on  his  back  a  sufficient  quantity  of  goods  to  pay  the 
cost  of  the  journey. 

The  time  required  by  the  common  carriers  to  complete  their 
journey  seems,  .when  compared  with  our  present  standard  of 
speed,  quite  incredible.  Thus,  it  is  recorded  that  the  carrier 
between  Selkirk  and  Edinburgh,  a  distance  of  thirty-eight  miles, 
required  a  fortnight  for  his  journey,  going  and  returning.  The 
road  lay  chiefly  along  the  bottom  of  the  district  called  Gala- 
water,  the  bed  of  the  stream,  when  not  flooded,  being  the  ground 
chosen  as  the  most  level  and  easy  to  travel  on. 

In  1678,  a  contract  was  made  to  establish  a  coach  for  passen- 
gera  between  Edinburgh  and  Glasgow,  a  distance  of  forty-four 
miles.  This  coach  was  drawn  by  six  horses,  and  the  journey 
between  the  two  places,  to  and  fro,  was  completed  in  six  days. 
Even  so  recently  as  the  year  1750,  the  stage-coach  from  Edin- 
burgh to  Glasgow  took  thirty-six  hours  to  make  the  journey. 
In  this  present  year,  1849,  the  same  journey  is  made,  by  a 
route  three  miles  longer,  in  one  hour  and  a  half! 

In  the  year  1763  there  was  but  one  stage-coach  between 
Edinburgh  and  London.  This  started  once  a  month  from  each 
of  these  cities.  It  took  a  fortnight  to  perform  the  journey.  At 
the  same  epoch  the  journey  between  London  and  York  required 
four  days. 

In  1835  there  were  seven  coaches  started  daily  between 
London  and  Edinburgh,  which  performed  the  journey  in  less 
than  forty-eight  hours.  In  this  present  year,  1849,  the  same 
journey  is  performed  by  railway  in  twelve  hours! 

In  1763,  the  number  of  passengers  conveyed  by  the  coaches 
C 


50  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  II. 

between  London  and  Edinburgh  could  not  have  exceeded  about 
twenty-five  monthly,  and  by  all  means  of  conveyance  whatever 
did  not  exceed  fifty.  In  1835  the  coaches  alone  conveyed  be- 
tween these  two  capitals  about  one  hundred  and  forty  passen- 
gers daily,  or  four  thousand  monthly.  But  besides  these,  sev- 
eral steam-ships,  of  enormous  magnitude,  sailed  weekly  between 
the  two  places,  supplying  all  the  accommodation  and  luxury  of 
floating  hotels,  and  completing  the  voyage  at  the  same  rate  as 
the  coaches,  in  less  than  forty-eight  hours. 

As  these  steam-ships  conveyed  at  least  as  many  passengers 
as  the  coaches,  we  may  estimate  the  actual  number  of  passen- 
gers transported  between  the  two  places  monthly  at  eight  thou- 
sand. Thus  the  intercourse  between  London  and  Edinburgh 
in  1835  was  one  hundred  and  sixty  times  greater  than  in  1763. 

At  present  the  intercourse  is  increased  in  a  much  higher 
ratio,  by  the  improved  facility  and  greater  cheapness  of  railway 
transport. 

Arthur  Young,  who  traveled  in  Lancashire  about  the  year 
1770,  has  left  us  in  his  Tour  the  following  account  of  the  state 
of  the  roads  at  that  time.  "I  know  not,"  he  says,  "in  the 
whole  range  of  language,  terms  sufficiently  expressive  to  de- 
scribe this  infernal  road.  Let  me  most  seriously  caution  all 
travelers  who  may  accidentally  propose  to  travel  this  terrible 
country  to  avoid  it  as  they  would  the  devil,  for  a  thousand  to 
one  they  break  their  necks  or  their  limbs  by  overthrows  or 
breakings  down.  They  will  here  meet  with  ruts,  which  I 
actually  measured,  four  feet  deep,  and  floating  with  rnud,  only 
from  a  wet  summer.  What,  therefore,  must  it  be  after  a  win- 
ter ?  The  only  mending  it  receives  is  tumbling  in  some  loose 
stones,  which  serve  no  -other  purpose  than  jolting  a  carriage  in 
the  most  intolerable  manner.  These  are  not  merely  opinions, 
but  facts ;  for  I  actually  passed  three  carts  broken  down  in 
these  eighteen  miles  of  execrable  memory." 

And  again  he  says  (speaking  of  a  turnpike  road  near  War- 
rington,  BOW  superseded  by  the  Grand  Junction  Railway), 
"  This  is  a  paved  road,  most  infamously  bad.  Any  person 
would  imagine  the  people  of  the  country  had  made  it  with  a 
view  to  immediate  destruction!  for  the  breadth  is  only  sufficient 
for  one  carriage ;  consequently  it  is  cut  at  once  into  ruts  ;  and 
you  may  easily  conceive  what  a  break-down,  dislocating  road, 
ruts  cut  through  a  pavement  must  be." 

Nor  was  the  state  of  the  roads  in  other  parts  of  the  north  of 
England  better.  He  says  of  a  road  near  Newcastle,  now  super- 


CHAP.  II.]          THE  PROGRESS  OF  TRANSPORT.  51 

seeled  by  railway,  "  A  more  dreadful  road  can  not  be  imagined. 
I  was  obliged  to  hire  two  men  at  one  place  to  support  my  chaise 
from  overturning.  Let  me  persuade  all  travelers  to  avoid  this 
terrible  country,  which  must  either  dislocate  their  bones  with 
broken  pavements,  or  bury  them  in  muddy  sand.  It  is  only  bad 
management  that  can  occasion  such  very  miserable  roads  in  a 
country  so  abounding  with  towns,  trade,  and  manufactures." 

Now  it  so  happens  that  the  precise  ground  over  which  Mr. 
Young  traveled  in  this  manner  less  than  eighty  years  ago,  is  at 
present  literally  reticulated  with  railways,  upon  which  tens  of 
thousands  of  passengers  are  daily  transported,  at  a  speed  vary- 
ing from  thirty  to  fifty  miles  an  hour,  in  carriages  affording  no 
more  inconvenience  or  discomfort  than  Mr.  Young  suffered  in 
1770,  when  reposing  in  his  drawing-room  in  his  arm-chair. 

Until  the  close  of  the  last  century,  the  internal  transport  of 
goods  in  England  was  performed  by  wagon,  and  was  not  only 
intolerably  slow,  but  so  expensive  as  as  to  exclude  every  object 
except  manufactured  articles,  and  such  as,  being  of  light  weight 
and  small  bulk  in  proportion  to  their  value,  would  allow  of  a 
high  rate  of  transport.  Thus  the  charge  for  carriage  by  wagon 
from  London  to  Leeds  was  at  the  rate  of  d£13  a  ton,  being 
13-i<£.  per  ton  per  mile.  Between  Liverpool  and  Manchester 
it  was  forty  shillings  a  ton,  or  lad.  per  ton  per  mile.  Heavy 
articles,  such  as  coals  and  other  materials,  could  only  be  avail- 
able for  commerce  where  their  position  favored  transport  by 
sea,  and,  consequently,  many  of  the  richest  districts  of  the  king- 
dom remained  unproductive,  awaiting  the  tardy  advancement 
of  the  art  of  transport.  Coals  are  now  carried  upon  railways 
at  a  penny  per  ton  per  mile,  and,  in  some  places,  at  even  a 
lower  rate.  Merchandise,  such  as  that  mentioned  above,  which 
was  transported  in  1763  at  from  14d.  to  15d.  per  mile,  is  now 
carried  at  from  3d.  to  4c2.,  while  those  sorts  which  are  heavier 
in  proportion  to  their  bulk,  are  transported  at  2-%d.  per  ton  per 
mile. 

But  this  is  not  all:  the  wagon  transport  formerly  practiced 
was  limited  to  a  speed  which  in  its  most  improved  state  did  not 
exceed  twenty-four  miles  a  day,  while  the  present  transport 
by  railway  is  effected  at  the  rate  of  from  twelve  to  fourteen 
miles  an  hour. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE    ORGANIZATION    OF    A   RAILWAY    ADMINISTRATION. 

THE  organization  of  the  administrative  machinery  necessary 
for  the  conduct  of  the  practical  business  of  a  railway,  or  a  sys- 
tem of  railways,  brought  under  a  common  direction  and  manage- 
ment, includes  the  following  four  principal  departments  or 
services,  more  or  less  distinct  from,  and  independent  of  each 
other.  These  are  — 

1st.    The  service  of  the  way  and  works. 

2d.    The  service  of  the  draft. 

3d.    The  service  of  carriage. 

4th.  The  service  of  the  stations. 

Each  of  these  departments  has  its  separate  staff,  machinery, 
and  stock. 

The  "service  of  the  way  and  works"  consists  in  the  due 
maintenance  and  repair  of  the  road  structure,  including  rails, 
chairs,  sleepers,  ballasting,  drains,  the  slopes  of  the  embank- 
ments and  cuttings,  and  the  works  of  art,  such  as  bridges,  tun- 
nels, and  viaducts,  the  gates  of  level  crossings,  and,  in  a- word, 
all  that  is  necessary  for  the  due  maintenance  of  the  line  in  a 
fit  state  to  bear  the  rolling  stock  and  traffic  which  pass  over  it. 
For  this  purpose  a  staff  of  superintendents,  engineers,  artificers, 
and  operatives  of  various  grades  and  classes,  is  necessary. 

In  the  "service  of  draft"  is  included  the  entire  staff  of  en- 
gineers and  operatives  employed  in  the  maintenance,  repair, 
management,  and  working  of  the  locomotive  stock,  consisting 
of  engines  and  tenders,  with  all  their  accessories,  and  including 
the  means  of  cleaning  and  repairing  them — sheds,  workshops, 
tools,  &c. — and  due  means  for  the  supply  of  water  and  fuel. 
In  this  department  is  included,  also,  all  the  means  provided  by 
the  establishment  for  the  reproduction  of  the  stock  as  it  is 
worn. 

In  the  "  service  of  carriage"  is  comprehended  all  that  is 
necessary  for  the  proper  preservation,  management,  and  repair 
of  the  coaches  used  for  the  passenger  traffic,  the  horse-boxes, 
baggage-vans,  parcel-vans,  and  carriage-trucks,  with  all  the 
accessories  necessary  for  their  maintenance,  cleaning,  and  re- 


CHAP.  III.]  RAILWAY  ADMINISTRATION.  53 

pair,  and  also  all  that  appertains  to  the  maintenance,  clean- 
ing, and  repair  of  the  wagons  of  every  description  used  in  the 
goods  department. 

The  "  service  of  the  stations  "  consists  of  the  staff  of  clerks, 
porters,  and  others,  supplied  with  all  the  necessary  means  for 
the  reception,  weighing,  booking,  and  embarkation,  and  for  the 
disembarkation,  discharge,  and  delivery  of  the  passengers,  bag- 
gage, and  goods,  of  every  class  and  description,  which  are  trans- 
ported on  the  road,  together  with  the  maintenance  and  repairs 
of  the  buildings  in  which  the  stations  are  established,  consisting 
of  booking-offices,  baggage  and  parcel-offices,  passengers'  wait- 
ing-rooms, sheds,  warehouses  for  the  reception,  of  goods,  and 
the  entire  furniture  and  machinery  necessary  for  the  embark- 
ation and  disembarkation  of  passengers,  baggage,  and  goods. 

Each  of  these  services  is  attended  with  arrangements  of  more 
or  leas  complexity  and  importance,  which  it  is  necessary  to  ex- 
plain in  detail,  and  to  reduce  to  such  order  and  arithmetical 
statement  as  may  supply  the  means  of  comparing  the  opera- 
tions and  results  of  different  railways  one  with  another,  and  the 
performances  of  the  same  railway  with  itself,  during  different 
and  successive  epochs.  We  shall,  therefore,  consider  succes- 
sively each  of  the  above  services. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE   WAT   AND   WORKS. 

THE  subject  of  the  maintenance  of  the  way  and  works  in- 
volves the  consideration  of  different  kinds  and  degrees  of  wear 
and  tear : 

1st.  That  wear  and  tear  which,  taking  place  at  short  intervals 
of  time,  is  repaired  and  made  good  annually. 

2dly.  That  wear  and  tear  of  the  fixed  materials  which, 
though  not  strictly  speaking  insensible,  takes  place  in  a  manner 
which  does  not  admit  of  annual  repair,  and  which,  accumula- 
ting from  year  to  year,  after  a  period  of  greater  or  less  duration, 
must  render  necessary  the  complete  reconstruction  and  repro 
duction  of  the  materials  so  worn. 

3dly.  That  wear  and  tear  which,  being  due  to  the  slow 
operation  of  time  acting  upon  the  more  solid  structures,  pro- 


54  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  IV. 

duces  an  effect  altogether  insensible  when  observed  through 
short  periods,  but  which,  after  a  long  interval  of  time,  such,  for 
example,  as  centuries,  must  necessitate  the  reconstruction  of 
some  or  all  even  of  the  most  solid  structures. 

These  changes  may  not  unaptly  be  assimilated  to  the  period- 
ical and  secular  inequalities  which  take  place  in  the  movements 
of  the  great  bodies  of  the  universe. 

The  operation  of  time  upon  the  more  massive  works  of  art 
upon  the  railway,  such  as  the  bridges,  tunnels,  viaducts,  &c., 
afford  examples  of  what  may  be  called  the  secular  wear  and 
tear.  The  more  rapid  and  visible  deterioration,  which  is  made 
good  by  repairs  or  reconstruction  effected  at  shorter  intervals, 
is  analogous  to  the  periodic  inequalities. 

In  the  annual  repairs  is  included  the  casual  damage  which 
the  exterior  of  the  more  solid  and  durable  works  may  from 
time  to  time  sustain  ;  but,  independently  of  these  repairs,  age 
produces  its  effects  even  on  these  structures,  and  an  epoch 
must  arrive,  however  remote  it  be,  at  which  they  would  be  re- 
duced to  a  state  which  will  necessitate  their  reconstruction. 

For  financial  and  economical  purposes  such  an  epoch  is,  per- 
haps, too  remote  to  render  it  necessary  to  bring  it  into  practical 
calculation,  and  therefore  it  need  here  only  be  noticed  in  passing. 

It  might  be  expected  that  the  annual  repairs  would,  in  the 
commencement  of  a  well-constructed  railway,  amount  to  little, 
and  that,  as  the  establishment  advances  in  age,  they  would  in- 
crease. 

The  result  of  experience,  however,  shows  the  effects  to  be 
to  some  extent  contrary,  the  annual  repairs  for  the  first  years 
being  invariably  greater  than  at  a  later  epoch. 

The  cause  of  this  is  easily  explained. 

In  a  newly  constructed  railway  the  earth  works  are  fresh  and 
unconsolidated,  the  embankments  have  had  no  other  means  of 
acquiring  solidity  than  the  gravity  of  their  own  materials,  and 
the  work  of  their  own  construction  which  has  been  conducted 
upon  them. 

When  the  road  gets  into  operation,  the  traffic  which  is  car- 
ried over  the  embankments  gradually  consolidates  them.  This 
produces  a  corresponding  subsidence  in  the  substratum  of  the 
road,  and  a  consequent  derangement  of  the  position  and  level 
of  the  rails.  Such  derangement  requires  to  be  continually 
redressed,  and  this  rectification  will  require  to  be  constantly 
made  until,  after  an  interval  of  more  or  less  duration,  accord- 
ing to  the  materials  composing  the  embankments,  and  the 


CHAP.  IV.]  THE  WAY  AND  WORKS.  55 

amount  of  traffic  carried  over  them,  a  complete,  consolidation 
takes  place. 

Although  the  same  observations  do  not  apply  with  equal 
force  to  the  cuttings,  they  are,  nevertheless  applicable  to  them 
in  a  modified  sense.  When  the  natural  bed  of  the  road  con- 
sists of  solid  and  dry  materials,  the  superficial  structure,  when 
once  properly  laid,  will  retain  its  position  ;  but  when  the  natu- 
ral soil  through  which  the  cutting  is  carried,  and  upon  which 
the  road  materials  rest,  is  soft  or  yielding,  then  similar  effects  to 
those  already  described  in  the  case  of  the  embankments  ensue. 
Perhaps,  in  strictness  of  language,  those  operations  which 
take  place  after  the  railway  has  been  brought  into  use  ought 
not  to  denominated  repairs,  but  should  be  considered  as  an 
essential  part  of  the  construction  of  the  railway,  and  in  the 
financial  accounts  should  be  debited  to  capital,  and  not  to  reve- 
nue, not  being  expenses  due  to  wear  and  tear,  or  to  the  legiti- 
mate operations  of  the  traffic,  but  to  the  original  and  inevitable 
incompleteness  of  the  construction  of  the  line. 

In  like  manner,  in  a  newly  constructed  railway,  the  slopes 
both  of  the  cuttings  and  embankments  are  liable  to  occasional 
slips,  a  term  expressing  the  falling  down  of  portions  of  the 
earth  which  forms  the  surface  of  these  slopes. 

In  the  case  of  cuttings,  the  earth  which  thus  slips  sometimes 
falls  upon  the  road  so  as  to  obstruct  the  traffic,  and  it  is  there- 
fore necessary  to  have  means  at  hand  at  all  times  for  its  imme- 
diate removal. 

In  the  case  of  embankments,  these  slips  leave  the  crown  of 
the  embankment,  constituting  the  road  structure,  with  imper- 
fect support,  and  they  require  therefore  to  be  immediately 
repaired. 

After  wet  weather,  or  during  the  vicissitudes  of  frosts  and 
thaws  in  winter,  such  effects  frequently  ensue. 

After,  however,  the  road  has  been  in  operation  for  a  sufficient 
length  of  time,  the  slopes  of  the  cuttings  and  embankments  be- 
come more  or  less  covered  with  vegetation,  which  forrns  a  sort 
of  skin  or  coating,  giving  security  and  permanence  to  their 
surface. 

The  chief  objects,  however,  of  the  annual  repairs  of  a  rail- 
road are  the  iron  and  wood-work,  which  form  the  immediate 
materials  of  the  road  structure — the  sleepers,  chairs,  pins,  and 
rails. 

Whatever  care  or  skill  may  be  used  in  the  fabrication  of  these 
materials,  and  however  severe  the  proofs  to  which  they  may 


56  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  IV. 

have  been  subjected  before  being  laid  upon  the  road,  they  will 
be  found  in  practice  to  be  liable  to  casual  defects,  in  consequence 
of  which  failures  and  fractures  will  from  time  to  time  take  place. 
Individual  sleepers  will  prove  unsound,  and  exhibit  premature 
decay ;  chairs  will  be  fractured,  pins  displaced,  rails  exfoliated 
or  broken.  In  all  these  cases,  the  broken  or  failing  materials 
have  to  be  removed  and  replaced  by  sound  ones. 

So  far  as  these  repairs  depend  on  casual  defects  and  flaws, 
their  number  and  extent  will  be  greater  in  the  commencement 
of  the  operation  of  a  railway  than  later ;  but,  on  the  other  hand, 
as  the  regular  wear  and  tear  of  the  road  structure  proceeds, 
its  natui-al  strength  will  be  proportionally  diminished,  and  the 
chances  of  fracture  and  failure  multiplied. 

It  therefore  often  happens  that  this  class  of  repairs,  consider- 
able within  the  first  years,  becomes  less  later,  and  later  still  in- 
creases ;  its  excess  at  first  being  ascribable  to  casual  and  undis- 
covered defects  and  flaws,  and  its  excess  at  a  later  epoch  being 
due  to  the  deterioration  and  diminished  strength  of  the  materials. 

But,  independently  altogether  of  these  annual  repairs,  which 
arise  from  the  casual  fracture  and  failure  of  the  road  structure, 
the  rails  and  other  iron-work  of  the  road  are  subject  to  a  gradual 
and  slow,  but  not  insensible  wear  and  tear,  arising  from  the  con- 
tinual operation  of  the  vehicles  rolled  upon  the  road.  Not  one 
of  these  vehicles  passes  over  a  rail  without  detaching  from  its 
surface  more  or  less  of  the  metal  which  composes  it ;  and  when 
the  enormous  number  of  these  vehicles  which  pass  over  a  rail- 
way in  active  traffic  is  considered,  the  wonder  will  be,  not  that 
the  rails  are  subject  to  wear,  but  that  their  durability  is  as  great 
as  it  proves  to  be.  Yet  strange  to  say,  the  prevalent  opinion, 
countenanced  and  supported  by  the  most  eminent  practical  en- 
gineers, was,  until  a  late  period,  that  the  duration  of  a  railway 
was  secular,  and  that  the  wear  and  tear  of  the  rails  was  so 
utterly  insensible,  that  for  all  practical,  financial,  and  econom- 
ical purposes,  it  might  be  totally  disregarded.  Thus,  it  was  said, 
that  the  rails  of  a  properly  laid  line  would  last  from  one  hundred 
to  one  hundred  and  fifty  years.  Such  statements  are  examples 
of  how  small  value  nre  opinions  of  practical  men  not  based  upon 
their  own  immediate  experience. 

The  only  sure  ground  on  which  to  calculate  the  average 
duration  of  the  life  of  the  rails  would  bo  from  a  careful  record 
of  the  effects  observed  on  railways  under  traffic  for  periods  of 
time  of  sufficient  length  ;  but  for  this  we  should  possess  more 
extended  experience  than  railways  have  yet  furnished. 


CHAP.  IV.]  THE  WAY  AND  WORKS.  57 

The  modern  railway  may  be  dated  from  the  opening  of  the 
Liverpool  and  Manchester  line  in  1830.  Its  duration,  conse- 
quently, has  not  yet  covered  a  space  of  twenty  years.  Unless, 
therefore,  the  average  life  of  the  rails  were  less  than  twenty 
years,  we  could  not  determine  as  yet  its  duration  from  the  im- 
mediate results  of  experience.  No  rails,  in  fine,  have  yet  lived 
out  their  natural  lives. 

In  the  absence,  however,  of  the  direct  evidence  of  experience, 
we  may  reason  from  analogy. 

If,  for  example,  the  rails  originally  laid  down  on  some  of  the 
lines  first  brought  into  operation  be  taken  up  and  weighed,  their 
weight  having  been  accurately  ascertained  at  the  time  they  were 
laid,  their  loss  of  weight  might  be  determined.  The  traffic 
which  has  passed  over  them  might  also  be  ascertained. 

The  cause  and  effect  would  thus  be  brought  into  immediate 
juxtaposition,  and  we  should  possess  data,  by  which  the  wear 
and  tear  of  a  rail,  produced  by  a  given  amount  of  traffic  passing 
over  it,  might  be  known.  This  being  determined,  the  only 
question  remaining  would  be,  what  loss  of  weight  a  rail  must 
sustain  before  it  would  be  necessary  to  replace  it  by  a  new 
one. 

The  circumstances  attending  the  construction  and  operation 
of  the  railways  hitherto  established  have,  however,  thrown  great 
difficulties  in  the  way  of  such  an  inquiry.  When  the  railways 
were  first  projected,  the  amount  of  traffic  which  they  were 
destined  to  bear  was  not  foreseen ;  still  less  was  it  known  with 
what  speed  such  traffic  must  be  carried,  or  by  what  description 
or  weight  of  engine  it  should  be  propelled.  Nevertheless,  all 
these  circumstances  vitally  affected  the  duration  of  the  rail. 
The  engineers  who  constructed  the  roads  were  therefore  obliged 
to  provide  a  structure  endowed  with  strength  for  a  traffic  un- 
known in  amount.  The  conditions  of  weight  and  strength  to 
be  imparted  to  the  rails  were  altogether  conjectural. 

The  first  railway  for  passenger  traffic  with  locomotive  engines 
was  accordingly  laid  between  Liverpool  and  Manchester,  with 
rails  of  the  description  called  fish-bellied,  now  out  of  use,  weigh- 
ing 35  Ibs.  per  yard.  The  strength  of  these  was  at  the  time  con- 
sidered great  to  superfluity,  and  this  form  was  regarded  as  emi- 
nently favorable  to  their  durability. 

Experience  soon  proved  their  weight  to  be  utterly  insufficient, 
and  their  form  to  be  a  source  of  weakness. 

The  first  engine  run  upon  the  line  thus  constructed  weighed 
7£  tons,  including  the  tender. 

c* 


58  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  IV 

It  was  soon  found,  however,  that  engines  of  this  power  were 
altogether  insufficient  for  the  traffic,  which  increased  beyond  all 
the  estimates  of  the  projectors  of  the  line. 

The  capability  of  speed  developed  by  the  locomotive  engine 
also  vastly  exceeded  all  previsions,  and  the  appetite  of  the  public 
for  even  augmented  expedition  appeared  to  increase  with  what 
fed  it.  Increased  speed  required  increased  power,  and  in- 
creased power  necessarily  inferred  increased  weight.  It  was, 
accordingly,  not  long  before  the  weight  of  the  engines  was  suc- 
cessively augmented  to  10,  12,  and  15  tons;  and  now  there  is 
actually  an  engine  on  one  of  the  English  railways  which,  with 
its  tender,  water,  and  fuel,  weighs  about  60  tons ;  and  in  the 
service  of  a  single  company  there  are  at  present  more  than  36 
engines,  weighing,  with  their  tenders,  about  40  tons  each. 

The  weight  of  the  carriages  underwent  a  corresponding, 
though  not  proportionate  increase.  The  first  carriages  placed 
on  the  railways  weighed  from  3  to  3 £  tons ;  their  weight  now 
sometimes  exceeds  4^  tons. 

The  strength  and  weight  of  the  goods  wagons  have  under- 
gone a  like  increase. 

But  these  were  not  the  only  circumstances  which  rendered 
the  rails  originally  laid  inadequate  in  strength.  The  quantity 
of  traffic,  and  its  speed,  were  gradually  increased  far  beyond 
any  limit  which  had  entered  into  the  contemplation  of  the  en- 
gineers who  projected  and  constructed  the  roads.  Thus  the 
average  speed  of  the  passenger  trains,  which  in  1831  was  17 
miles  an  hour,  was  gradually  increased,  until  in  1848  it  was  30 
miles  an  hour ;  while  the  speed  of  the  fastest  trains,  which  in 
1831  was  24  miles  an  hour,  was  in  1848,  on  the  Liverpool  and 
Manchester  line,  40  miles  an  hour,  and  on  the  Grand  Junction 
and  the  Liverpool  and  Birmingham,  50  miles  an  hour. 

In  1837,  the  number  of  trains  per  day  which  arrived  at  and 
departed  from  the  Stafford  station,  on  the  Grand  Junction  line, 
was  14;  in  1848  it  was  38.  The  number  of  trains  per  day 
which  arrived  at  and  departed  from  the  Euston-square  station 
of  the  Birmingham  line  in  1837  Was  19  ;  in  1848  it  was  44. 

In  fine,  the  number  of  trains  per  day  arriving  at  and  depart- 
ing from  the  Liverpool  terminus  of  the  Liverpool  and  Manches- 
ter Railway  in  1831  was  26  ;  in  1848  it  was  90. 

A  corresponding  augmentation  took  place  in  the  weight  of  the 
trains.  In  1831,  the  average  weight  of  a  passenger  train,  en- 
gine and  tender  included,  was  18  tons.  In  1848,  the  average 
weight  of  the  engine  and  tender  alone  was  considerably  above 


CHAP.  IV.]  THE  WAY  AND  WORKS.  59 

20  tons ;  and  the  average  weight  of  the  passenger  trains,  includ- 
ing the  engine  and  tender,  exceeded  75  tons. 

In  1831,  the  average  weight  of  a  goods  train,  including  engine 
and  tender,  was  52  tons;  in  1848  it  varied  from  160  to  176 
tons.* 

Thus  the  number  of  trains  on  some  railways  was  augmented 
150,  on  others  250  per  cent. ;  the  weight  of  the  engines  was 
increased  114  per  cent.-;  the  weight  of  the  carriages  30  per 
cent. ;  the  average  speed  about  90  per  cent. ;  and  the  average 
weight  of  the  trains  350  per  tfent. 

For  such  increased  work  the  rails  originally  laid  down  at 
351bs.  a  yard  would  have  been  totally  inadequate,  and  they 
were  accordingly  soon  replaced  by  others  which  weighed  50  Ibs. 
These,  again,  under  the  gradually  increasing  traffic,  being  found 
insufficient,  were  taken  up,  and  successively  replaced  by  rails 
weighing  62  Ibs.  and  65  Ibs.  These  were  succeeded  by  others 
weighing  72  Ibs.  and  75  Ibs. ;  and  the  latest  rails  laid  down  have 
weighed  85  Ibs. 

These  changes  were  not  made  suddenly.  The  weight  and 
strength  of  the  permanent  way  were  gradually  increased,  under 
the  gradually  increasing  traffic;  and,  at  present,  the  principal 
railways  exhibit  a  motley  arrangement  of  rails  of  various  weights, 
the  lightest  being  60Jbs.  and  the  heaviest  85 Ibs.  per  yard. 

Thus,  on  438  miles  of  railway,  placed  under  the  direction  of 
the  Northwestern  Company,  there  were,  at  the  commence- 
ment of  the  present  year  (1849),  about  150  miles  laid  down 
with  rails  of  75  Ibs.  per  yard,  100  miles  at  65 Ibs.  per  yard,  and 
the  remainder,  in  detached  lengths  varying  from  50  to  70  miles, 
with  rails  of  weights  varying  from  60  Ibs.  to  85  Ibs.  per  yard. 

In  a  joint  report  of  Messrs.  Stephenson  and  Locke,  dated 
April,  1849,  the  company  is  recommended  to  adopt  for  the  future 
the  heaviest  description  of  rails,  viz.,  85  Ibs.  per  yardr- 

The  mode  originally  adopted  for  supporting  the  rails  was 
upon  square  blocks  of  stone,  measuring  2ft.  in  the  side  and  1ft. 
in  depth,  upon  which  a  cast  iron  chair  was  fastened  by  wooden 
pegs  driven  into  holes  bored  in  the  stone  block,  the  rail  being 
fixed  in  the  chair  by  an  iron  pin. 

After  a  time,  these  stone  blocks  were  superseded  by  trans- 
verse beams  of  wood  called  sleepers,  which  served  at  once  as 
supports  for  the  chair  and  rails,  and  as  ties  for  keeping  the  rails 
in  gauge. 

*  Report  of  Captain  Huish,  manager  of  the  North-western  Railway. 
London,  1849. 


60  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  IV. 

The  material  selected  for  these  sleepers,  when  first  used, 
was  larch,  which  was  considered  to  be  the  most  durable  wood 
for  the  purpose,  next  to  oak. 

Later,  the  timber  used  for  sleepers  was  prepared  by  impreg- 
nating it  with  certain  saline  substances,  by  a  process  variously 
denominated,  according  to  the  principle  and  mode  of  impregna- 
tion. Sleepers  of  soft  wood  thus  prepared  were  regarded  as 
having  a  durability  equal  to  that  of  oak. 

It  has  recently  been  proposed  to  substitute  sleepers  of  cast 
iron  for  those  of  wood,  and  the  plan  has  been  already  reduced 
to  practice  on  a  large  scale. 

The  distances  between  sleeper  and  sleeper  were  subject  to 
as  much  variation  as  were  the  strength  and  weight  of  the  rails. 
At  first,  the  sleepers  were  placed  at  3ft.  asunder;  the  distance 
was  afterward  increased  from  3  to  5ft.,  according  to  the  weight 
of  the  rails ;  and  at  present  the  rails  are  variously  laid  on  sup- 
ports at  3ft.,  3ft.  6 in.,  3ft.  9 in.,  4ft.,  and  4ft.  6  in.  asunder. 

The  cubical  magnitude  of  the  sleepers  has  been  subject  to 
similar  changes,  according  to  the  increasing  amount  of  the  traffic. 

When  these  rapid  and  successive  changes,  spread  over  so 
brief  a  period  as  twenty  years,  are  considered,  it  will  be  easily 
understood  how  difficult  a  problem  is  the  solution  by  analogy  of 
the  average  life  of  a  rail.  No  rails  hitherto  laid  down  have  ever 
been,  strictly  speaking,  worn  out.  They  have  been  successively 
taken  up  and  replaced,  not  because  they  were  worn  out,  but 
because  their  strength  was  insufficient  for  the  increasing  amount 
nnd  speed  of  the  traffic,  and  the  consequently  augmented  weight 
of  the  engines. 

If  rails,  selected  in  sufficient  number,  and  in  positions  suf- 
ficiently various,  had  been  accurately  weighed  when  first  laid 
down,  and  the  amount  and  speed  of  the  traffic  passing  over  them 
had  been  accurately  recorded,  and  if,  after  a  sufficiently  pro- 
tracted interval,  these  rails  had  been  taken  up  and  weighed,  the 
loss  of  weight  corresponding  .to  the  traffic  would  have  been 
ascertained ;  but  directors  and  engineers  were  too  actively 
engaged  in  the  practical  working  of  the  lines,  and  too  deeply 
involved  in  the  present  interests  of  their  respective  concerns, 
to  give  themselves  much  trouble  about  a  problem  which  was 
regarded  as  affecting  the  interests  of  their  remote  successors 
rather  than  their  own.  Few  scientific  men  devoted  themselves 
to  these  practical  questions,,  and  those  few  could  scarcely  ex- 
pect that  the  directors  of  railways  would  allow  their  current 
business  to  be  interfered  with  by  experiments  and  observations, 


CHAP.  IV.]  THE  WAY  AND  WORKS.  61 

which  would  necessarily  involve  labor,  cost,  inconvenience,  and 
even  the  danger  of  the  temporary  displacement  of  the  rails. 
The  problem  was  therefore  left,  without  solution,  to  vague  con- 
jecture. 

In  Belgium,  where  the  railway  system  was  first  adopted  on 
the  Continent,  it  was  placed  under  the  superintendence  of  the 
government,  and  was  therefore  in  circumstances  more  favorable 
to  the  investigation  of  questions  having  an  interest  more  remote 
than  immediate.  We  find,  accordingly,  in  the  official  reports 
of  the  Belgian  railways,  observations  on  the  circumstances  which 
determine  the  duration  of  the  permanent  way,  which  throw 
considerable  light  on  this  point.  . 

The  durability  of  the  sleepers  depends  solely  upon  their  in- 
trinsic qualities,  without  reference  to  the  traffic  carried  on  upon 
the  road.  Their  deterioration  is  produced  by  the  gradual  de- 
struction of  the  timber,  by  the  vicissitudes  of  moisture  and 
temperature  to  which  it  is  exposed.  The  sleepers  of  the  Bel- 
gian railways  are  partly  of  oak  and  partly  of  white  wood. 

The  average  duration  of  the  white  wood  sleepers  has  been 
found  not  to  exceed  eight  years,  but  the  duration  of  oak  sleepers, 
though  much  more  considerable,  does  not  appear  to  be  ascer- 
tained with  the  same  accuracy.  The  average  duration  of  the 
entire  system  of  sleepers  used  on  these  lines,  partly  white 
wood  and  partly  oak,  has  been  found,  however,  from  observa- 
tions of  sufficient  extent  and  accuracy,  to  be  twelve  years.  No 
sleepers  impregnated  with  chemical  principles  have  been  used 
on  these  lines. 

It  appears  to  be  the  result  of  experience  that  the  sleepers  do 
not  all  perish  at  the  same  rate,  but  that  a  portion  require  to  be 
replaced  year  by  year;  and  the  experience  of  the  Belgian  lines 
shows  that  each  year  about  eight  per  cent,  of  the  sleepers  are 
renewed.  Thus,  in  the  course  of  twelve  years,  by  the  gradual 
annual  repairs,  all  the  sleepers  are  renewed. 

Calculations  have  been  made  by  the  Belgian  engineers  as  to 
the  economical  advantages  derivable  from  the  use  of  oak  sleepers 
exclusively,  instead  of  the  more  perishable  description  of  wood. 
The  result  of  this  calculation  was,  that  the  ultimate  cost  is 
nearly  the  same,  whether  the  sleeper  used  be  more  perishable 
and  cheaper,  or  more  durable  and  dearer,  the  increased  expense 
being  very  nearly  equal  to  the  augmented  durability.  These 
calculations,  however,  must  vary  in  their  results,  according  to 
local  circumstances,  and  according  to  the  market  price  of  the 
material  of  the  sleepers. 


62  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [OnAp.IV. 

The  durability  of  the  rails,  on  the  other  hand,  is  altogether 
independent  of  time,  and  exclusively  consequent  on  the  quantity 
of  work  which  they  have  performed.  Rails,  laid  under  various 
circumstances,  and  in  various  positions,  on  the  Belgian  railways, 
have  been  previously  weighed  with  great  accuracy,  and,  being 
taken  up  after  the  lapse  of  a  certain  time,  have  been  again 
weighed,  and  the  loss  of  weight  ascertained,  the  quantity  of 
work  performed  meanwhile  having  been  accurately  recorded. 
The  result  of  these  observations  has  been,  that,  taking  into  ac- 
count the  wear  and  fracture  of  the  rails,  a  railway  composed  of 
well-manufactured  rails,  weighing  27  kilogrammes  per  current 
metre,  which  is  equal  to  SS^lbs.  per  yard,  and  giving  passage 
annually  to  3000  trains,  of  14  coaches  or  wagons  per  train, 
would  last  120  years  before  it  required  to  be  relaid. 

The  rails  from  which  these  calculations  have  been  deduced 
were  of  English  manufacture,  and  they  were  taken  in  every 
variety  of  position  which  could  be  supposed  to  influence  the 
rate  of  their  wear.  Thus,  some  were  taken  near  a  station 
where  the  action  of  the  brake  in  stopping  the  trains,  and  the 
action  of  the  driving-wheels  in  starting  them,  necessarily  aug- 
mented the  wear ;  some  were  taken  at  an  intermediate  position 
between  station  and  station,  where  such  causes  did  not  operate; 
some  were  taken  on  ascending  and  some  on  descending  gradi- 
ents, so  as  to  efface  from  the  calculation,  by  the  various  condi- 
tions of  the  data,  the  peculiar  influences  of  each  variety  of 
position,  and  to  obtain  an  average  result. 

The  Belgian  engineers  have  carried  their  investigations  further, 
and  have  endeavored  to  ascertain  the  proportion  of  this  wear 
assignable,  to  the  engine,  the  vehicles  which  it  draws,  and  the 
load. 

M.  Belpaire  has  accordingly  made  an  elaborate  investigation, 
founded  on  the  theory  of  the  action  of  the  driving-wheels  of  the 
engines,  and  the  effects  produced  by  the  weight  of  the  carriages 
and  by  the  increased  tractive  power  exacted  from  the  engine; 
and,  after  a  long  and  complicated  calculation,  has  arrived  at  the 
conclusion  that  in  passing  over  ten  myriameters,  or  about  60 
English  miles,  the  engine  abrades  from  the  rails  2-2  Ibs.,  each 
empty  carriage  or  wagon  abrades  4-5 oz.,  and  each  ton  of  load 
abrades  1-4  oz.  of  iron. 

It  appears  to  have  escaped  the  notice  of  the  Belgian  engineer 
that  these  quantities  of  wear,  which  he  has  assigned  respective- 
ly to  the  engines,  the  carriages,  and  the  load,  are  as  nearly  as 
possible  in  the  ratio  of  the  weights  of  these  objects  severally ; 


CHAP.  IV.]  THE  WAY  AND  WORKS.  63 

and  his  conclusions  might  have  been  obtained  very  simply,  and 
more  directly,  and  supported  by  reasoning  equally  cogent,  by 
assuming  that  the  wear  produced  by  each  object  would  be  in 
the  direct  proportion  of  its  weight.  Such  an  hypothesis  would 
be  quite  as  admissible  as  those  which  are  involved  in  his  investi- 
gation. 

The  average  weight  of  the  vehicles  of  transport  of  various 
sorts  may  be  taken  at  about  3  tons.  Now  4-5  oz.  is  nearly  three 
times  1-4  oz.,  the  latter  being  the  wear  assigned  to  one  ton 
weight  of  load,  and  the 'former  the  wear  assigned  to  three  tons 
of  weight  of  vehicle.  Again,  2-2  Ibs.  is  25  times  1-4  oz.  very 
nearly,  and  the  engine  and  tender  weigh  upon  an  average  about 
25  tons.  Thus  the  wear  assigned  to  the  engine  and  tender  is 
just  so  many  more  times  the  wear  assigned  to  one  ton  as  is  ex- 
pressed by  the  number  of  tons  in  their  weight. 

"The  reasoning  upon  which  this  distribution  of  the  wear  of 
the  rails  by  the  engine,  the  vehicles,  and  the  load  is  based,  is 
necessarily  more  or  less  theoretical,  however  conclusive.  The 
most  material  point,  however,  is  the  total  wear,  which  appears 
to  have  been  very  satisfactorily  established. 

It  was  incidentally  observed  in  these  inquiries,  that,  although 
the  rails  of  55 Ibs.  per  yard  were  well  adapted  to  the  traffic  of 
the  Belgian  lines,  a  railway  having  more  active  traffic  would  be 
more  advantageously  worked  with  heavier  and  stronger  rails ; 
and  it  was  inferred,  that  rails  weighing  80  Ibs.  per  yard  would 
be  sufficient  for  a  traffic  ten  times  more  active  than  the  average 
traffic  of  the  Belgian  lines. 

The  Board  of  Directors  of  the  Northwestern  Railway 
Company,  the  largest  and  most  important  of  the  British  railway 
establishments,  ordered,  at  the  commencement  of  the  present 
year  (1849),  their  manager  and  engineer  to  investigate  the  con- 
dition of  the  extensive  system  of  railways,  amounting  to  nearly 
500  miles,  placed  under  their  direction,  with  a  view  to  solve  the 
same  question  as  that  to  which  the  labors  of  the  Belgian  engi- 
neers were  directed  ;  that  is  to  say,  to  ascertain  the  probable 
duration  of  the  permanent  way,  and  the  future  epoch  at  which 
it  might  require  to  be  relaid.  This  investigation  was  accord- 
ingly made  by  Captain  Huish,  the  manager  of  the  railway,  aided 
by  the  engineer  and  superintendent  permanently  engaged  on 
the  line.  A  report  was  made  in  April,  1849,  in  which  it  was 
stated,  that  the  actual  average  age  of  the  then  permanent  way 
was  71  years,  and  that,  all  things  considered,  the  reporters  con- 
cluded that  its  total  duration  might  be  estimated  at  20  years, 


64  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  IV. 

thus  leaving  121  years  of  its  present  life  to  run,  the  railway 
being  laid  chiefly  with  rails  weighing  651bs.  and  751bs.  per  yard, 
as  above  stated. 

Now,  let  us  compare  the  conclusion  arrived  at  by  Captain 
Huish  and  his  assistants,  by  means  totally  different  from,  and 
independent  of,  those  used  by  the  Belgian  engineers,  with  the 
conclusion  obtained  by  the  latter,  as  already  stated. 

It  appears  by  the  report  of  Captain  Huish,  that  the  number 
of  trains  passing  daily  over  the  principal  sections  of  the  line 
was  as  follows :  the  Liverpool  and  Manchester,  90 ;  the  Grand 
Junction,  38;  and  the  London  and  Birmingham,  44.  He 
takes  the  average  at  50  trains  daily,  which  is  equal  to  18,250 
trains  annually,  and  this  being  continued  for  20  years  (the 
duration  assigned  by  Captain  Huish  to  the  permanent  way),  we 
should  have  a  total  of  365,000  trains,  as  the  traffic  necessary  to 
wear  out  the  line,  and  render  necessary  its  reconstruction. 

Now,  according  to  the  conclusion  of  the  Belgian  engineers, 
3000  trains  per  annum  would  wear  out  the  Belgian  lines  in  120 
years,  which  would  give  a  total  amount  of  work  of  360,000 
trains  for  the  entire  existence  of  the  road. 

The  coincidence  of  these  two  conclusions  is  very  remark- 
able, especially  as  Captain  Huish  himself  does  not  seem  to  be 
aware  of  the  striking  manner  in  which  his  report  is  confirmed 
by  the  Belgian  observations. 

It  must  be  observed  here,  that  the  Belgian  rails  are  55lbs.  per 
yard,  while  the  rails  upon  which  the  English  estimate  is  made 
range  between  60  and  801bs.  per  yard,  the  average  being  70  Ibs.; 
but,  on  the  other  hand,  the  weight  of  the  trains  and  engines, 
as  well  as  their  velocity,  worked  upon  the  English  lines  is 
proportionately  greater  than  on  the  Belgian  lines,  so  that  the 
coincidence  of  the  conclusion  is  not  disturbed  by  this  difference. 

It  may  therefore  be  calculated,  that,  with  a  traffic  equal  to 
that  now  carried  upon  the  system  of  railways  under  the  di- 
rection of  the  Northwestern  Company,  rails  laid  down  at  the 
average  weight  of  70 Ibs.  per  yard  will  have  a  duration  of  20 
years,  after  which  the  entire  line  must  be  relaid. 

It  is  evident,  that  if  from  its  nature  the  amount  of  wear 
which  thus  gradually  takes  place  upon  the  rails  from  year  to 
year  could  be  included  in  the  annual  repairs,  it  ought  to  be 
comprised  jn  them ;  but  from  the  nature  of  the  case  it  must 
necessarily  be  allowed  to  accumulate,  so  that  at  the  end  of  a 
period  of  20  years  the  entire  expense  of  relaying  the  line 
would  have  to  be  incurred. 


CHAP.  IV.]  THE  WAY  AND  WORKS.  65 

The  financial  expedient  proper  to  meet  this  exigency  is  evi- 
dent. Estimating  as  nearly  as  is  possible  the  major  limit  of  the 
cost  of  relaying  at  the  end  of  the  period  just  mentioned,  the 
amount  of  an  annuity  (to  use  a  term  well  understood),  must 
be  calculated  which  at  the  termination  of  20  years  would  be 
equal  to  the  estimated  cost  of  relaying  the  rails ;  and  an  equiv- 
alent sum  must  be  annually  taken  from  the  revenue,  and  invest- 
ed at  compound  interest  to  meet  the  future  exigency. 

It  appears  by  the  tables  of  annuities,  that  an  annuity  of  661 
reserved  and  improved  at  compound  interest,  would  at  the 
expiration  of  twenty  years  attain  the  following  amounts : 

At  3  per  cent d626'87.0 

At  3|  per  cent 28'280 

At  4  per  cent 29'778 

At  4|  per  cent 31'378 

To  find  the  annual  reserve  which  ought  to  be  invested,  it  is 
only  necessary  to  divide  the  estimated  cost  of  relaying  a  mile 
of  the  road  by  one  or  other  of  the  above  sums,  according  to  the 
rate  of  interest  at  which  the  investments  can  be  made.  The 
quotient  will  be  the  annual  reserve  necessary  for  each  mile  of 
the  road. 

The  cost  of  laying  a  mile  of  the  permanent  way  with  SOlbs. 
rails,  and  suitable  chairs  and  sleepers  (the  duration  of  the  latter 
being  taken  at  twelve  years),  is  estimated  in  round  numbers  at 
663000,  after  allowing  for  the  value  of  the  old  rails  and  chairs. 

Let  us  suppose  that  the  investment  can  be  made  at  4  per 
cent.,  that  the  cost  of  relaying  is  ^63000  per  mile,  and  that  the 
length  of  the  line  is  75  miles. 

To  find  the  necessary  annual  reserve,  divide  3000  by  29-778, 
and  the  quotient  is  100-75 ;  multiply  this  by  75,  and  the 
product  is  7556-75.  The  annual  reserve  would  therefore  be 
,567556  15s. 

It  now  remains  for  us  to  explain,  so  far  as  the  data  before  us 
will  enable  us  to  do,  the  extent  of  railways  projected,  executed, 
and  in  process  of  execution,  in  the  United  Kingdom,  the  cost 
of  their  construction,  and  the  cost  of  their  maintenance. 

By  an  official  report  of  the  railway  commissioners,  published 
in  June,  1849,  it  appears  that  on  the  1st  January,  1849,  there 
were  completed  and  in  actual  operation  in  the  United  Kingdom, 
5007*  miles  of  railway. 

*  Since  the  above  was  written,  it  appears  by  a  more  recent  report, 
that  the  length  of  railways  open  on  the  1st  Jan.,  1849,  was  5126| 


RAILWAY  ECONOMY. 


[CHAP.  IV. 


This  differs  slightly  from  the  reports  of  the  different  organs 
of  the  press  devoted  to  railway  affairs,  their  estimate  being  as 
much  below  5000  as  that  of  the  railway  commissioners  is  above 
it.  We  may  take,  therefore, -5000  miles  in  round  numbers  to 
express  the  actual  length  of  railways  which  were  in  operation 
on  1st  Jan.,  1849. 

According  to  the  commissioners,  this  extent  of  railway  com- 
munication is  distributed  between  England,  Scotland,  and  Ire- 
land in  the  following  proportions  : 

Miles 

England 3918 

Scotland 728 

Ireland 361 

5007 

The  rate  at  which  the  construction  of  railways  has  proceeded 
during  the  last  seven  years  in  these  countries,  may  be  estimated 
from  the  following  statement,  in  the  second  column  of  which  is 
given  the  number  of  miles  of  railway  which  were  in  operation 
on  the  first  day  of  each  of  the  years  given  in  the  first  column. 
In  the  third  column  is  given  the  number  of  miles  of  railway 
which  were  opened  for  traffic  in  the  successive  years,  being 
the  difference  of  the  numbers  given  in  the  second  column. 


Miles  open  on  January  1. 

Miles  opened  during 
the  Year. 

1843 

1857 

95 

1844  

1952 

196 

1845  

2148 

2S3 

1846  

2441 

595 

1847 

3036 

780 

1848 

3816 

1191 

1849     . 

5007 

It  further  appears  that  acts  had  been  obtained  previously  to 
1st  January,  1849,  for  other  railways,  and  for  branches  and 
extensions,  the  total  length  of  which  was  7005  miles.  Thus 
the  total  extent  of  lines  constructed  and  projected  to  this  date 
was  12,012  miles. 

All  the  railways  for  which  acts  had  been  passed  up  to  the 
close  of  1844,  with  the  exception  of  about  20  miles,  had  been 
completed  and  in  operation  by  the  end  of  1848. 

In  1845  Parliament  passed  acts  sanctioning  the  construction 

miles.  But  the  additional  miles  consisted  of  lines  leading  to  collieries 
and  mines,  and  such  as  are  not  used  for  the  general  purposes  of 
traffic. 


CHAP.  IV.] 


THE  WAY  AND  WORKS. 


C7 


of  2700  miles  of  railway.  Of  these  not  much  more  than  one 
half  was  completed  on  the  1st  January,  1849.  In  1846,  par- 
liament passed  acts  authorizing  the  construction  of  a  further 
extent  of  4538  miles  of  railway,  of  which  only  500  miles  was 
completed  and  opened  on  1st  January,  1849. 

The  following  table  taken  from  the  report  of  the  railway 
commissioners  of  May,  1849,  will  exhibit  the  rate  at  which 
railway  projects  have  been  sanctioned  by  parliament,  and  the 
rate  at  which  their  execution  has  proceeded,  up  to  the  com- 
mencement of  1849. 


TABLE  showing,  for  the  Railways  authorized  previously  to  the  End  of 
1843  and  in  each  succeeding  Year,  the  Proportion  opened  for  Traffic 
during  each  Year,  and  the  Proportion  remaining  to  be  completed  at 
the  end  of  1848  ;  and  also  showing  the  Length  of  Railway  opened  for 
Traffic  in  each  Year  since  1843^ 

Of  Lines  autho- 
rized previously 
to  Dec.  31,  1843. 
Of  Lines  autho- 
rized in  1844... 
Of  Lines  autho- 
rized in  1845... 
Of  Lines  autho- 
rized in  1846... 
Of  Lines  autho- 

Length  of  Line  opened. 

Total 
Length 
of  Line 
opened 
toDec. 
31,  1848. 

Length 
of  Line 
autho- 
rized. 

Mite,. 

2285 
805 
2700 
4538 
1354 
330 
12,012 

££ 
re€'° 

opened. 
Mile,. 

21 

1298 
4056 
1300 
330 
7005 

Dec.  31, 
1843. 

During 
184-1 

Mile,. 

196 

During 
Mile,. 

129 
158 
6 

During 
1846. 

MUct. 

8 
365 

During 
1847. 

MUct. 

140 
556 

84 

During 

1848. 

Mite,, 

121 
618 
398 
54 

1191 

Uita. 
1952 

Mila. 

2285 
784 
1402 
482 
54 

Of  Lines  autho- 
rized in  1848... 

Total  

780 

1952 

196 

293 

595 

5007 

On  the  1st  May,  1848,  about  2960  miles  of  railway  were  in 
course  of  construction,  of  which  800  miles  were  opened  by  the 
end  of  the  year,  during  which  period  no  new  works  had  been 
commenced.  There  were  therefore  in  progress  of  construc- 
tion, on  the  1st  January,  1849,  only  2160  miles. 

The  account  of  the  total  amount  of  railways  sanctioned  by 
parliament  on  the  1st  January,  1849,  was  therefore  as  follows: 

Miles. 

Open  for  traffics 5007 

In  process  of  construction 2160 

Not  commenced , . . .     4845 


Total  sanctioned  by  Parliament 12,012 


68  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  IV. 

Of  this  extent  of  4800  miles  of  railway  sanctioned  by  the 
legislature,  but  not  commenced,  on  1st  May,  1849,  the  railway 
commissioners  considered  that  there  was  good  reason  for  in- 
ferring that  one  half  at  least  would  never  be  constructed,  so 
that  the  total  amount  of  railways  which  were  considered  likely 
to  be  constructed,  including  those  already  in  operation  and  in 
progress,  on  1st  January,  1849,  was  as  follows  : 

MiU-s. 

Open  for  traffic 5007 

In  process  of  construction 2160 

Not  commenced,  but  likely  to  be  executed 2400 

9567 

The  following  particulars  respecting  the  financial  condition 
of  the  railway  companies  are  also  supplied  by  a  parliamentary 
return,  dated  1st  May,  1848: 

Capital  paid  up  in  cash  by  shareholders  to  January  1, 

1848  <£126,149,476 

Capital  paid  by  lenders  on  railway  debentures  and  other 

securities 40,788,765 


Total  capital  paid  up  to  January  1,  1848 166,938,241 

Paid  up  in  shares  during  1848 30,359,102 

Paid  up  in  loans  during  1848 2,875.715 

Total  capital  raised  by  shares  and  on  loan  to  January  1, 

1849 200,173,058 

Balance  of  capital,  to  raise  which,  by  existing  shares, 
by  new  shares,  and  by  loan,  the  actual  companies 

"  powers  on  January  1,  1849 143,717.773 


d£343,890,831 

Thus  it  appears  that  upon  these  works  a  sum  expressed  in 
round  numbers  by  200  millions  sterling  had  been  actually  ex- 
pended on  1st  Jan.,  1849,  and  the  chartered  companies  had 
retained  powers  to  expend  a  further  sum,  to  be  raised  by  shares 
or  loan,  of  140  millions,  making  a  total  of  340  millions  to  be  ex- 
pended on  12,000  rrrHespf  railway.  But  as  2400  miles  of  these 
were  estimated  as  likely  to  be  abandoned,  a  corresponding  por- 
tion of  the  capital  w.ould  rrot  be  raised  or  expended.  This 
would  authorize  the  supposition,  that  of  the  340  millions  above 
mentioned,  68  millions  would  not  be  required;  but  this  computa- 
tion rests  on  the  supposition,  that  the  railways  in  progress,  and 
those  to  be  abandoned,  were  estimated  at  the  same  average 


CHAP.  IV.] 


THE  WAY  AND  WORKS. 


rate  as  those  which  are  constructed.  The  estimates,  however, 
being  lower,  the  railway  commissioners  calculate  that  the  prob- 
able abandonment  of  2400  miles  of  the  projected  lines  would 
cause  a  diminution  of  the  estimated  capital  amounting  only  to  50 
millions,  leaving  a  total  amount  of  capital  of  290  millions  to  be 
absorbed  by  9500  miles  of  railway.  This  would  be  at  the  aver- 
age rate  of  d£30,500  per  mile. 

Of  the  sura  of  200  millions,  which  had  been  expended  before 
the  1st  Jan.,  1849,  a  part  had  been  absorbed  by  the  lines  which 
were  in  process  of  construction,  but  had  not  yet  been  opened. 
Against  this,  however,  there  remained  an  amount  of  capital 
still  to  be  expended  on  the  lines  already  open.  On  most  of  the 
more  recently  opened  railways,  the  stations  were  still  incom- 
plete;  in  some  cases,  depdts,  workshops,  and  other  permanent 
buildings,  had  not  even  been  commenced,  The  full  complement 
of  the  locomotive  and  rolling  stock  had  not  been  provided.  In 
the  absence  of  exact  data,  then,  if  these  latter  expenses  be 
placed  againsi  the  former,  the  entire  capital  of  200  millions  may 
be  placed  to  the  account  of  the  5000  miles  open  for  traffic  ; 
which  would  give  an  average  expense  of  construction,  including 
the  locomotive  and  carrying  stock,  and  the  workshops  and  de- 
pots for  its  repair,  &c.,  of  d£40,000  per  running  mile. 

An  estimate  of  the  actual  quantity  of  labor  of  every  class  em- 
ployed on  this  stupendous  national  enterprise  may  be  obtained 
from  a  parliamentary  return,  showing  the  number  of  persons 
employed  on  the  railways  on  the  1st  May,  1848  ;  the  extent 
then  open  for  traffic  being  4253  miles,  the  extent  in  process  of 
construction  being  2958  miles,  and  the  number  of  distinct  com- 
panies by  whom  these  works  were  directed  being  170. 


TABULAR  ANALYSIS  of  the  Number  and  Description  of  Persons  employed 
on  the  Railways  of  the  United  Kingdom  on  May  1,  1848. 

On  Lines  open 
for  Traffic. 

On  Lines  not 
open.      f 

81 
30 
29 
95 
343 
125 
70 
43 
106 

102 
93 
21 
405 
1,897 
243 
145 
88 
306 

T 

TT  ^ 

Q     ^   •'           A      f 

0             T_ 

»  o  e  e  pe     .   . 

Cashiers                       

TniTv  forward  .  .  . 

927 

3.300 

70 


RAILWAY  ECONOMY. 


[CHAP.  IV. 


On  Lines  open 
for  Traffic. 


Brought  forward 927 

Clerks 4,360 

Artificers 10,814 

Laborers 14,297 

Inspectors 

L  and  surveyors 

Miners,  or  quarrymen. 

~oremen  or  overseers 1,010 

Policemen 2, 475 

Porters  and  messengers 7,559 

Platelayers 4,391 

Drivers  and  carters 

Engine-drivers 1,752 

Engine-stokers  . 

Guards 1,464 

Switchmen 1,058 

Gatekeepers 401 

Wagoners 141 

B  rakesmen , 32 

Miscellaneous 197 

Total... 52,687 


On  Lines  not 
open. 


3,300 

887 

29,087 

147,325 

119 

26 

6,250 

685 

71 

10 

256 

45 


188,071 


It  appears,  therefore,  that  in  1848  a  quarter  of  a  million  of 
persons  were  employed  on  the  railways  of  the  United  King- 
dom ;  and  if  it  be  considered  that  each  of  these  must  have  con- 
tributed to  the  support,  on  an  average,  of  one  or  more  other 
persons,  it  will  follow,  that  this  vast  enterprise  must  have,  at 
that  epoch,  supplied  means  of  living  to  at  least  two  per  cent,  of 
the  entire  population  of  these  countries. 

Since  the  date  of  these  returns,  the  extent  of  railway  which 
has  been  completed  is  greater  than  the  length  which  has  been 
commenced,  and  the  extent  now  in  process  of  construction  is 
therefore  less  than  at  the  epoch  just  referred  to.  It  is  probable, 
therefore,  that  the  quantity  of  labor  employed  in  this  branch  of 
industry  has  been  somewhat  diminished  ;  because,  although  the 
length  of  lines  under  traffic  is  greater  than  formerly,  the  length 
in  process  of  construction  is  less,  and  the  latter,  for  a  given 
length,  employs  more  industry  than  the  former,  in  the  propor- 
tion of  three  and  a  half  to  one. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  LOCOMOTIVE  POWER. 

WHEN  the  magnitude  of  the  capital  invested  in  the  locoraotiv* 
stock  of  a  railway,  and  the  large  proportion  of  the  annual  rev- 
enue absorbed  in  maintaining  it,  are  considered,  its  economical 
importance  may  be  readily  estimated. 

The  locomotive  stock  may  be  primarily  resolved  into  two 
classes — that  which  is  employed  in  working  the  passenger  traf- 
fic, and  that  which  is  employed  in  drawing  the  goods  trains. 

The  passenger  engines  are  so  constructed  as  to  draw  light 
loads  at  great  speed,  the  goods  engines  heavy  loads  at  a  low 
speed.  In  the  one,  the  driving  wheels  are  large,  so  as  to  carry 
the  train  forward  through  a  great  space  by  each  stroke  of  the 
piston  ;  in  the  other  they  are  of  more  limited  magnitude,  in 
order  to  give  the  moving  power  a  greater  leverage  upon  the 
load.  In  the  one,  they  are  single,  rendering  the  engine  light, 
so  as  to  absorb  less  of  the  moving  power  in  propelling  itself;  in 
the  other,  they  are  double  and  coupled,  and  sometimes  even 
tripled,  so  as  to  give  a  greater  purchase  to  the  impelling  power. 
In  the  one  class  of  engine  steam  of  small  density  is  consumed 
rapidly  and  in  great  volume;  in  the  other,  steam  of  greater 
density  is  consumed  at  a  slower  rate. 

These  different  mechanical  requirements  render  it  necessary, 
in  general,  to  provide  a  locomotive  stock  for  the  goods  service, 
separate  from,  and  independent  of,  that  provided  for  the  pas- 
senger service. 

In  the  locomotive  depai'tment  a  register  should  be  kept,  con- 
taining a  record  of  the  past  and  current  performances  and  con- 
dition of  every  engine  in  the  service  of  the  railway.  Such  a 
record  should  contain  the  following  particulars  of  the  past  serv- 
ices of  each  engine : 

1st.    The  day  and  year  it  was  put  upon  the  road. 

2d.     Its  maker. 

3d.     The  diameter  and  stroke  of  its'cylinders. 

4th.  The  diameter  and  number  of  its  driving-wheels. 

5th.  The  number  of  times  it  was  cleaned,  lighted,  and  had 
steam  raised. 


72      .  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  V. 

6th.  The  number  of  hours  it  was  standing  with  steam  raised. 

7th.  Its  total  mileage,  from  the  commencement  of  its  service 
to  the  current  date. 

8th.  The  total  quantity  of  fuel  it  had  consumed. 

9th.  Original  cost  of  engine. 
10th.  Total  sum  expended  on  its  repairs. 

And,  with  respect  to  its  current  service  during  the  past  year, 
the  following  details  should  be  given  : 

1st.    The  number  of  times  it  was  lighted,  and  had  steam  raised. 

2d.     The  number  of  hours  it  stood  with  steam  raised. 

3d.    Its  mileage  by  months,  and  its  total  mileage. 

4th.  The  quantity  of  fuel  consumed  in  lighting  and  raising 
steam. 

5th.  The  quantity  of  fuel  consumed  in  standing. 

6th.  The  quantity  of  fuel  consumed  in  working. 

7th.  A  memorandum  of  any  accident,  or  other  notable  circum- 
stance, attending  the  performance  of  the  engine. 

Such  a  record  as  the  above  is  neither  impracticable  nor  un- 
important. A  register  of  this  kind  is  kept  by  the  establishment 
of  the  Belgian  railways,  and  the  principal  results  of  it  are 
published  annually,  in  a  tabulated  form,  in  the  "Compte  Ren- 
du,"  or  official  report  of  the  service  of  the  railways,  delivered 
to  the  Chambers  by  the  minister  of  public  works  every  session. 
Such  a  table  exhibits  a  "coup  d'oeil"  of  the  condition  and  the 
past  history  of  the  entire  locomotive  stock. 

On  the  Belgian  lines,  which  consist  of  347  miles  of  railway, 
there  were  employed,  at  the  end  of  the  year  1847,  154  locomo- 
tives, of  the  conditions  and  performance  of  which  a  tabular 
statement  appears  in  the  report  of  that  year.  The  Belgian 
railways  had  been  then  13  years  in  operation,  and  no  engine 
had  yet  been  superannuated. 

The  first  engine  placed  upon  the  road  was  "  La  Fleche," 
constructed  by  Messrs.  Stephenson  &jCo.  This  machine  had 
performed,  within  the  13  years,  a  total  mileage  of  86,932  miles, 
and  within  the  year  1847  had  performed  a  mileage  of  7292 
miles.  Thus,  in  its  thirteenth  year  of  service,  it  performed 
more  than  its  annual  average. 

Another  engine  constructed  by  Messrs.  Stephenson,  called  St. 
Hubert,  which  had  been  put  on  the  road  in  December,  1838, 
had,  at  the  end  of  1847,  completed  a  mileage  of  130,962  miles, 
having  performed  within  the  year  1847  21,737  miles. 

Another  engine,  called  ««  Les  Quatre  Journees,"  constructed 
by  Messrs.  Cockerill,  which  had  been  put  upon  the  road  in 


CHAP.  V.]  THE  LOCOMOTIVE  POWER.  •     73 

September,  1837,  and  had  then  been  upward  of  ten  years  in 
service,  had  performed  a  total  mileage  of  130,160  miles,  and 
within  the  year  1847  performed,  in  five  months,  a  mileage  of 
11,537  miles. 

In  short,  it  appears  from  this  register,  that  not  only  were  none 
of  the  engines  composing  the  stock  of  the  Belgian  railways,  which 
had  been  accumulating  for  13  years,  superannuated,  but  that  the 
current  mileage  of  the  oldest  engine  was  equal  to  that  of  the 
youngest  and  most  vigorous. 

In  the  progress  of  the  English  railways,  locomotives  have  been, 
from  time  to  time,  cast  aside,  and  put,  as  it  were,  upon  the  re- 
tired list ;  but  this  has  in  general  arisen,  not  from  the  circum- 
stance of  their  being  superannuated,  but  because  the  conditions 
of  the  traffic  had  undergone  such  a  change  that  the  natural 
powers  of  these  engines  were  not  suited  to  it.  Immediately 
after  the  comencement  of  the  operation  of  the  railway  system, 
the  traffic  augmented  so  i-apidly  as  to  exceed  all  the  previsions 
of  those  who  constructed  and  organized  the  first  railways.  The 
weight  and  strength  of  the  rails  were  successively  increased,  as 
well  as  the  weight  and  magnitude  of  the  trains,  and  the  weight 
and  power  of  the  engines  underwent  a  corresponding  augment- 
ation. 

A  regularly  kept  journal  of  the  life  of  some  of  the  oldest 
locomotives  working  on  the  English  railways  would  be  a  record 
of  profound  interest.  Whether  such  a  register  exist,  I  am  not 
aware ;  but  none  such  has,  I  believe,  ever  been  published. 

From  a  comparison  of  the  total  mileage  of  each  class  of  the 
locomotive  stock  with  the  number  of  engines  in  service,  the 
average  mileage  of  each  engine  can  be  ascertained. 

Thus,  if  E  express  the  number  of  passenger  engines,  and  e 

•p 
express  their  total  mileage,  then  —  will  express  the  average 

mileage  of  each  engine.    In  like  manner,  if  E'  express  the  num- 

"F1' 
her  of  goods  engines,  and  e'  their  total  mileage,  — r  will  express 

the  average  mileage  of  each.  Or,  in  fine,  if  E-f-E'  express  the 
total  number  of  engines  of  both  kinds,  and  e-\-e'  their  total  mile- 

E-4-E' 
age,  then  — •  '         will  express  the  general  average  mileage  of 

each  engine. 

As  an  example  of  such  a  calculation,  let  us  take  the  Belgian 
railways  for  1847. 

The  total  number  of  engines  in  active  service  was  154,  and 
D 


74  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  V. 

their  total  mileage  was  2,366,885;  this  divided  by  154  gives 
15,369  as  the  average  annual  mileage  of  each  engine,  the  average 
daily  mileage  being  therefore  42  miles. 

It  may  be  asked,  whether  a  locomotive  engine,  once  lighted, 
may  not  be  worked  almost  indefinitely? 

It  is  known  that  many  steam-engines  used  in  the  manufactures 
and  in  mining  are  kept  for  several  months  together  in  unceasing 
action  night  and  day  ;  and  the  engines  used  in  steam-ships  are 
often  kept  in  incessant  operation  throughout  a  voyage  of  3000 
miles.  Why  therefore,  it  may  be  said,  may  not  a  locomotive 
engine  be  worked  for  a  much  longer  distance  without  interrup- 
tion, and  thus  distribute  the  expense  of  lighting  and  cleaning 
over  a  greater  extent  of  mileage,  and  thereby  diminish  the  cost 
per  mile  ? 

Although  the  mileage  of  the  engine  might  be  augmented  much 
beyond  its  present  amount,  it  is  nevertheless  indispensable  that 
it  should  not  exceed  a  certain  practical  limit.  The  locomotive 
engine,  an  iron  horse,  requires  intervals  of  repose  as  much  as  do 
the  horses  of  flesh,  blood,  and  bones.  It  becomes  fatigued,  so  to 
speak,  with  its  work,  and  its  joints  become  relaxed  by  labor,  its 
bolts  loosened,  its  rubbing  surfaces  heated,  and  often  unequally 
expanded  and  sti'ained.  Its  grate-bars  and  fire-box  become 
choked  with  clinkers,  its  tubes  become  charged  with  coke  ;  and 
were  its  labor  continued  to  a  certain  point,  it  would  end  in  a 
total  inability  to  move.  The  durability  of  the  engine,  therefore, 
requires  that  its  work  should  be  suspended  before  these  causes 
of  disability  operate  to  an  injurious  extent. 

When  its  labor  ceases,  the  engine-cleaners,  who  are,  as  it 
were,  its  grooms,  clean  out  its  fire-place,  scrape  its  grate-bars 
and  the  internal  surface  of  the  fire-box,  clean  out  its  tubes, 
tighten  all  its  bolts  and  rivets,  oil  and  grease  all  its  moving  parts, 
and,  in  a  word,  put  it  again  into  working  order. 

The  expense  of  cleaning  an  engine,  and  the  cost  of  the  fuel 
consumed  in  lighting  it  and  raising  the  steam,  so  as  to  prepare 
it  for  propulsion,  must  necessarily  be  charged  upon  the  mileage 
which  it  performs;  and  the  cost  of  this  mileage  will  therefore 
be  augmented  in  the  inverse  proportion  of  the  ratio  of  the  total 
mileage  of  the  engine  to  the  number  of  times  it  has  been  cleaned 
and  lighted  during  the  period  of  its  service.  It  is  therefore  im- 
portant, in  the  economy  of  the  locomotive  power,  to  ascertain 
with  precision  the  proportion  which  the  mileage  of  the  engines 
bears  to  the  number  of  times  they  have  betjn  cleaned  and 
lighted. 


CHAP.  V.]  THE  LOCOMOTIVE  POWER:  75 

Hence  appears  the  importance  of  the  record  above  mentioned, 
of  the  number  of  times  each  engine  has  been  lighted  and  cleaned. 

To  determine  the  average  number  of  miles  run  by  each  en- 
gine after  such  cleaning  and  lighting,  it  is  only  necessary  to 
divide  the  total  mileage  of  the  locomotive  stock,  or  of  each  class 
of  it,  by  the  total  number  of  engines  lighted  ;  the  quotient  will 
give  the  distance  run  by  each  engine  lighted.  In  general,  if  E" 

express  the  number  of  engines  lighted,  then  -^ —  will  express 

hi ' 
the  average  distance  run  by  each  engine  lighted. 

As  examples  of  the  application  of  this,  we  take,  from  the 
official  reports  of  the  Belgian  railways,  the  number  of  engines 
lighted  during  1846  and  1847.  The  number  was  27,452  for 
1846.  Dividing  this  into  the  total  mileage,  2,027,014,  already 
given,  the  quotient  is  73-8,  which  is  therefore  the  average  num- 
ber of  miles  run  by  each  engine  cleaned  and  lighted. 

In  1847  the  number  of  engines  lighted  was  30,676.  We  have 
already  seen  that  the  total  mileage  was  2,366,885.  Dividing  this 
by  the  number  of  engines  lighted,  we  find  77-6  miles  as  the  dis- 
tance run  by  each  engine  lighted,  being  an  improvement  on  the 
performance  of  the  previous  year. 

On  the  Orleans  Railway,  in  1847,  there  were  11,315  engines 
lighted,  of  which  the  total  mileage  was  853,505.  Dividing  the 
latter  by  the  former,  we  find  76  miles  as  the  average  distance 
run.  On  the  same  railway,  during  the  year  1848,  there  were 
11,072  engines  lighted.  The  total  mileage  of  all  the  engines 
was  782,591.  Dividing  the  latter  by  the  former,  we  obtain  70-7 
miles,  the  average  distance  run  by  each  engine  lighted. 

In  the  practical  working  of  the  locomotive  stock,  it  inevitably 
happens  that  engines,  after  they  have  been  lighted,  had  their 
steam  raised  and  prepared  for  starting,  have  to  stand,  keeping 
their  steam  up  more  or  less  time,  waiting  for  trains  which  they 
are  to  draw,  and  thus  an  expense  is  incurred,  not  directly  pro- 
ductive, for  fuel  and  wages. 

But,  besides  this,  the  service  of  the  road  requires  that,  at 
certain  stations,  engines  shall  be  kept  waiting  with  their  steam 
up  ready  for  work,  for  the  mere-  purpose  of  providing  for  the 
contingencies  of  the  active  service  of  the  road.  Thus,  if  an 
accident  occur  to  a  train,  by  which  the  engine  that  draws  it  is 
disabled,  notice  is  sent  forward  by  the  electric  telegraph,  by 
signals  or  otherwise,  to  the  next  engine  station,  summoning  an 
engine  to  proceed  to  the  spot  to  take  on  the  train.  If  an  engine 
were  not  prepared  for  such  a  contingency,  with  its  steam  up, 


76  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  V. 

the  road  would  be  obstructed  for  a  considerable  length  of  time 
by  the  train  thus  accidentally  brought  to  a  stand. 

The  engines  thus  kept  prepared  for  accidents  are  called  Re- 
serve Engines. 

Another  cause  which  renders  it  necessary  at  certain  points 
of  the  line  to  keep  engines  waiting  with  their  steam  up,  is  the 
existence  of  exceptional  gradients. 

Thus,  if  a  railway  be  generally  laid  out  with  gradients  of  about 
15  feet  a  mile,  but  at  a  particular  point  a  natural  elevation  of  the 
ground,  or  other  cause,  renders  the  construction  of  a  gradient 
rising  at  the  rate  of  60  feet  a  mile  necessary,  then  the  engines 
which  are  adapted  to  the  general  character  of  the  line  become 
insufficient  for  such  exceptional  gradient;  and,  in  such  case,  the 
expedient  resorted  to  is  to  keep  one  or  more  powerful  engines 
constantly  waiting  with  their  steam  up  at  the  foot  of  the  incline, 
for  the  purpose  of  aiding  in  propelling  the  trains  in  their  ascent. 
These  engines  are  denominated  Assistant  Engines  or  Bank  En- 
gines. Their  mode  of  operation  is  as  follows.  They  wait  near 
the  foot  of  the  incline  in  a  siding  provided  for  the  purpose;  and 
when  a  train  arrives  and  begins  to  ascend,  the  assistant  engine 
follows  it,  and,  pushing  from  behind,  aids  the  regular  engine  in 
front  in  propelling  it  up  the  plane.  When  it  arrives  at  the  summit, 
the  assistant  engine  drops  off,  and,  descending  the  plane,  returns 
to  its  station. 

In  the  above  calculations  of  the  proportion  of  the  engines 
lighted  to  the  actual  mileage,  these  reserve  and  assistant  en- 
gines, when  such  occur,  are  included  ;  and  the  average  mileage 
per  engine  lighted,  which  has  b'een  obtained  as  above,  is  less 
than  the  actual  average  performed  by  the  engines  worked,  be- 
cause the  engines  lighted  for  reserve  enter  into  the  divisor,  which 
gives  the  mileage.  It  is  convenient,  therefore,  in  the  records 
of  the  locomotive  department,  to  keep  an  account  of  the  engines 
lighted  for  reserve,  &c.,  separate  from  the  engines  lighted  for  work. 

On  the  Orleans  Railway  in  1848,  of  11,072  which  were  light- 
ed, 1825  were  reserve  engines,  and  9247  only  were  worked. 

To  ascertain  the  actual  average  mileage  of  each  of  the  work- 
ing engines  which  were  lighted,  it  would  be  therefore  necessary 
to  divide  the  total  mileage  by  9247,  which  will  give  84-6  as  the 
actual  average  distance  run  by  each  engine  lighted  and  worked. 

In  like  manner,  in  1847,  on  the  same  railway,  the  number  of 
reserve  engines  lighted  was  likewise  1825,  and,  therefore,  the 
number  of  engines  lighted  and  worked  9490.  Dividing  the 
mileage,  which  was  853,505,  by  9490,  we  obtain  90  as  the 


CHAP.  V.]  THE  LOCOMOTIVE  POWER.  77 

average  distance  run  by  each  engine  lighted  and  worked.  Thus 
it  appears  that,  if  the  reserve  engines  be  included  in  the  com- 
putation, they  would  reduce  the  average  run  of  each  engine 
lighted  in  1848  from  84-6  to  70-7,  and  in  3847  from  90  to  76. 

To  estimate  the  time  during  which  the  locomotive  stock  is 
kept  standing  with  steam  up  in  reserve  or  waiting  for  work,  a 
record  of  the  number  of  hours  each  engine  has  been  lighted  and 
standing  should  be  kept.  By  dividing  this  total  number  of  hours 
by  the  number  of  engines  lighted,  we  obtain  the  average  num- 
ber of  hours  which  each  engine  lighted  had  been  kept  standing 
with  steam  up. 

As  an  example  of  this,  on  the  Belgian  railways,  in  1846  and 
1847,  the  number  of  hours  which  engines  were  kept  standing 
with  steam  up  was  204424  in  1846,  while  the  number  of  en- 
gines lighted  was  27,452.  Dividing  the  former  by  the  latter,  the 
quotient  is  7-43,  which  is  the  average  number  of  hours  each 
engine  lighted  was  kept  standing  with  steam  up. 

In  like  manner,  in  1847,  on  the  same  railways,  the  number 
of  hours  the  engines  were  kept  standing  was  214,610,  and  the 
number  of  engines  lighted  was  30,676.  Dividing  the  former  by 
the  latter  the  quotient  is  7.  Hence  it  appears  that  the  average 
number  of  hours  each  engine  lighted  was  kept  standing  in  this 
year  was  7  hours.  In  this,  however,  are  included  the  reserve 
engines. 

As  on  the  same  railways  the  average  distance  run  by  each  en- 
gine lighted  was  about  70  miles,  it  follows,  that  for  every  10 
miles  of  practical  work  performed  by  each  engine  the  engine 
was  kept  one  hour  standing. 

The  fuel  consumed  in  working  a  railway  may  be  classed  un- 
der three  heads : 

1st.  That  which  is  consumed  in  lighting  the  engines  and 
raising  their  steam,  to  prepare  them  for  work. 

2d.  That  which  is  consumed  while  the  engines  stand  with 
their  steam  up,  waiting  for  the  trains  they  are  intended  to  draw, 
or  standing  in  reserve,  prepared  for  the  contingency  of  accidents 
on  the  line. 

3d.  That  which  is  consumed  in  drawing  the  trains. 

When  the  engine  has  stopped  work,  its  fire-box  is  cleared, 
preparatory  to  the  engine  being  cleaned.  A  certain  portion  of 
coke,  more  or  less,  according  to  the  state  of  the  fire-box  at  the 
moment  the  engine  is  stopped,  is  collected  in  this  way  half  con- 
consumed.  This  coke  is  to  a  certain  extent  available  to  aid  in 
lighting  the  engine  when  next  started.  The  small  coke  which 
has  been  rejected  as  unfit  for  the  working  engine  is  mixed,  in  a 


78  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  V. 

greater  or  less  proportion,  by  the  engineer  with  the  large  coke 
used  for  raising  the  steam,  for  in  this  process  the  draft  is  not 
so  strong  as  to  carry  this  small  coke  injuriously  through  the 
tubes.  The  small  coke  is  also  used,  mixed  in  a  certain  propor- 
tion with  the  large  coke,  for  keeping  the  steam  up  in  the  re- 
serve engines. 

The  quantity  of  coke  consumed  rn  drawing  a  train  will  de- 
pend upon  the  magnitude  and  weight  of  the  train,  and  the  speed 
with  which  it  is  moved.  The  greater  the  resistance  which  it 
has  to  overcome,  the  greater  will  be  the  consumption  of  fuel  in 
a  given  distance.  The  resistance  increases  in  a  high  ratio  with 
the  speed.  Now  as  the  speed  of  passenger  trains  is  usually 
greater  than  that  of  goods  trains,  the  consumption  of  fuel,  so 
far  as  it  is  affected  by  the  speed,  will  be  greater  in  the  former 
than  in  the  latter ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  goods  trains  consist- 
ing of  a  much  greater  number  of  vehicles  and  of  a  greater  gross 
weight  than  passenger  trains,  the  resistance  due  to  the  load  is 
greater  in  the  latter  case  than  in  the  former. 

On  the  Belgian  railways  the  economy  of  fuel  is  very  strictly 
attended  to.  Rules  are  established  by  which  a  certain  weight 
of  coke  is  allowed  to  the  engineer  for  the  different  purposes  : 

For  lighting  and  raising  the  steam,  280  kilogrammes,  equal 

to  6181bs.,  of  coke  are  allowed. 
For  each  passenger  coach  drawn,  £  kilo,  per  kilometre,  equal 

to  2-64  Ibs.  per  mile,  are  allowed. 
For  each  loaded  goods  wagon,  |  of  a  kilogramme  per  kilometre, 

equal  to  2-30  Ibs.  per  mile,  are  allowed. 
Two  empty  wagons  are  accounted  as  equal  to  a  loaded  one, 

and  2£  kilogrammes  per  kilometre,  equal  to  8-82  Ibs.  per 

mile,  are  allowed  for  an  engine  without  a  load. 
Ten  kilogrammes,  equal  to  22 Ibs.,  per  hour,  are  allowed  for 

keeping  up  the  steam  while  the  engine  is  standing. 

These  quantities  are,  however,  understood  to  be  average 
major  limits  which  ought  not  to  be  exceeded.  To  stimulate 
the  engineers  and  their  superintendents  to  the  observance  of  a 
due  economy  of  fuel,  premiums  are  awarded,  in  proportion  to 
the  extent  of  the  saving  effected  upon  these  allowances;  bs.Qd. 
a  ton  is  allowed  to  the  engineer  for  every  ton  of  coke  by  which 
his  actual  consumption  falls  short  of  these  limits,  and  a  further 
premium  of  one-fourth  of  this  amount  is  allowed  to  the  super- 
intendents of  the  locomotive  department. 

In  the  year  1846  the  amount  of  premiums  paid  for  these 


CHAP.  V.] 


THE  LOCOMOTIVE  POWER. 


savings  to  the  engine-drivers  was  c£678,  and  to  the  superintend- 
ents 6£169. 

The  savings  of  fuel  are  not  either  alone  or  chiefly  effected  by 
the  care  bestowed  on  feeding  the  fire-box.  Much  more  depends 
on  the  engine  not  being  lighted  at  too  early  a  moment  before 
starting,  and  consequently  not  being  kept  standing  with  steam 
up  needlessly. 

In  the  year  1841  the  engines  upon  the  Belgian  railways  con- 
sumed, upon  an  average,  701bs.  per  vnile,  including  the  fuel 
consumed  in  lighting  and  standing. 

In  1842  this  was  reduced  to  451bs.,  and  in  1844  and  1845  to 
401bs. 

This  improved  economy;  was  not  altogether  owing  to  the 
increased  vigilance  of  the' engine-drivers  and  stokers,  but  was 
in  part  due  to  an  improvement  in  the  arrangement  of  the  valves, 
by  which  the  steam  was  allowed  to  escape  from  the  cylinders, 
so  that  the  economy  was  partially  effected  on  the  consumption 
of  steam,  and  through  that  on  the  consumption  of  fuel. 

In  the  locomotive  department,  a  register  should  be  kept  of 
the  fuel  consumed,  distinguishing  such  consumption  under  the 
three  heads  of  standing,  lighting,  and  working,  together  with 
which  should  be  noted  the  hours  standing,  the  engines  lighted, 
and  the  mileage  worked.  There  is  nothing  impracticable  or 
difficult  in  the  maintenance  of  such  a  register  in  every  well- 
organized  establishment,  and  such  a  one  is  regularly  kept  in  the 
administration  of  the  Belgian  railways.  It  appears  from  these 
records,  that  the  following  was  the  fuel  consumed  for  these 
purposes  respectively  on  the  Belgian  railways  during  the  years 
1846  and  1847: 


1846. 

1847. 

204,124 

214,610 

Number  of  Ibs.  of  coke  consumed  in  standing 
Average  number  of  Ibs.  consumed  per  hour.. 

4,503,077 
22-0 

27,452 

5,306,573 
24-7 
30-676 

Total  number  of  Ibs.  consumed  in  lighting  
Average  number  of  Ibs.  consumed  per  engine 

16,828,505 
613-0 

18,605,263 
606-4 

2027,014 

2,366,885 

Total  number  of  Ibs.  of  coke  consumed  in 

60  698  538 

71,500,965 

Average  number  of  Ibs.  consumed  per  mile 

30-0 

30-0 

Average  consumption  per  mile,  including  coke 

40-5 

40-3 

80  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [GaAP.  V. 

It  may  then  be  stated  in  round  numbers,  that  600 Ibs.  of  fuel 
are  consumed  in  lighting  an  engine  and  raising  the  steam,  and 
that  every  engine  lighted  travels,  on  an  average,  as  worked  upon 
the  Belgian  lines,  70  miles. 

The  fuel  consumed  in  lighting  adds,  therefore,  8£lbs.  per  mile 
to  the  working  consumption,  which  latter  being  30  Ibs.,  the  pro- 
portion consumed  in  lighting  is  28  per  cent.  The  fuel  consumed 
in  standing  with  steam  up,  either  as  an  engine  of  reserve  or 
otherwise,  adds  1^  per  cent,  more  to  the  working  consumption 
per  mile,  the  total  amount  of  which  may  be  taken  in  round 
numbers  at  40  Ibs.,  as  these  railways  are  worked. 

To  determine  what  part  of  this  consumption  is  directly  ex- 
pended on  the  load,  it  would  be  necessary  to  ascertain  the  pro- 
portion which  the  dead  weight  bears  to  the  profitable  load.  This 
will  become  the  subject  of  inquiry  in  a  succeeding  chapter. 

The  sources,  therefore,  from  which  the  economy  of  fuel  may 
be  expected,  are  the  extending  the  mileage  of  each  engine 
lighted,  the  keeping  the  engines  waiting  as  short  a  time  as  pos- 
sible for  their  loads,  and  securing  as  full  a  load  as  possible  for 
the  carriages. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  fuel  invariably  used  in  locomotive 
engines  on  European  railways  is  coke. 

Weight  for  weight,  this  fuel  develops  a  greater  amount  of 
heat,  and  develops  it  in  a  smaller  space  and  more  rapidly,  than 
coal.  It  is  therefore  better  adapted  to  produce  the  quick  evap- 
oration in  a  small  space,  which  is  indispensable  to  railways.  Its 
combustion  is  not  attended  with  the  evolution  of  the  black,  sooty 
smoke  produced  by  coal ;  and  the  engines,  therefore,  in  passing 
through  districts  more  or  less  populous,  are  not  productive  of 
the  same  nuisance. 

Coke  is  fabricated  by  submitting  coal  to  the  process  of  baking 
or  being  heated  in  close  retorts,  by  which  means  its  volatile 
constituents  are  driven  out  of  it,  and  little  more  than  carbon 
remains.  In  this  process,  the  magnitude  of  the  fuel  is  consider- 
ably increased. 

The  augmentation  of  magnitude  varies  according  to  the 
quality  of  the  coaU  In  some  cases  it  is  augmented  50  per  cent, 
in  bulk,  and  of  course  proportionally  diminished  in  weight. 

In  the  process  of  coking,  coal  loses  the  weight  of  the  volatile 
elements  expelled.  This  diminution  of  weight  varies  according 
to  the  quality  and  analysis  of  the  coal,  from  15  to  25  per  cent, 
of  the  total  weight. 

Thus,  it  may  be  assumed,  that,  allowing  for  waste  in  incom- 


CHAP.  V.] 


THE  LOCOMOTIVE  POWER. 


81 


bustible  matter,  contained  even  in  the  best  coal  in  greater  or 
less  proportion,  the  weight  of  coke  derived  from  100  tons  of 
coal  will  be  about  70  tons;  but  of  this  quantity  a  portion,  more 
or  less  according  to  the  mode  and  the  skill  of  fabrication,  will 
be  produced  in  pieces  of  too  small  magnitude  to  be  capable  of 
being  used  in  locomotive  engines.  The  small  coke,  if  burned  in 
the  locomotive  engine,  either  falls  through  the  grate-bars,  or  is 
drawn  through  the  tubes  unconsumed,  and  a  portion  of  it  re- 
maining in  them,  obstructs  the  draft.  The  small  coke  is,  nev- 
ertheless, useful  as  fuel,  and  is  valued  at  its  own  weight  of  coal. 
On  the  Belgian  railways,  65  per  cent,  of  large  coke,  and  2^  per 
cent,  of  small,  is  obtained  from  the  coal. 

By  analysis,  this  coal  contains  from  17  to  25  per  cent,  of  vol- 
atile matter,  and  consequently,  even  by  distillation  in  close  ves- 
sels, would  yield,  in  coking,  only  from  75  to  83  per  cent.  A 
portion  of  the  coal,  however,  in  the  common  process  of  coking, 
is  consumed  in  producing  the  necessary  heat,  and  the  remainder 
is  waste  and  incombustible  matter. 

In  the  year  1844,  23,800  tons  of  large  coke  and  900  tons  of 
small  were  produced  on  the  Belgian  railways  from  36,500  tons 
of  coal,  the  cost  of  the  coal  being  11s.  4e£.  per  ton,  and  that  of 
the  coke  20s. 

In  1846,  52,185  tons  of  coal  were  used  in  making  28,220  tons 
of  large  and  834  tons  of  small  coke. 

In  1844,  3-6  per  cent,  of  the  coke  produced  was  small,  and 
had  only  the  value  of  its  wejght  in  coal. 

In  1846,  only  2-8  per  cent,  was  small,  an  improvement  in  the 
fabrication  having  taken  place,  which  effected  a  saving  of  nearly 
1  per  cent,  in  the  coke  produced. 

In  the  reports  of  the  English  railways,  no  data  are  supplied 
by  which  similar  calculations  can  be  made. 

According  to  the  reports  of  the  Great  Western  Railway,  the 
cost  of  coke,  its  consumption,  and  the  mileage  of  the  engines 
during  the  last  four  years,  had  been  as  follows : 


Cost  per  Ton. 

Coke  consumed. 

Mileage  of  Engine*. 

1845  

a.     d. 
21     0 

Tens. 
21  919 

1,240  412 

1846 

23     8 

19731 

1  346  341 

1847 

24     4 

21  454 

1  454  610 

1848               .     . 

21     4 

25,346 

1,582,672 

The  mileage  here  given  includes  that  of  the  assistant  engines, 


82  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  V. 

and  of  engines  traveling  without  a  train;  and  the  consumption 
of  fuel  is  the  total  quantity,  including  what  was  consumed  in 
lighting  the  engines  and  in  standing. 

Hence  it  follows  that  the  consumption  in  each  year  per  engine 
per  mile,  including  lighting  and  standing,  was  as  follows  : 

Coke  consumed 
per  Engine 
per  Mile. 

1845    39^  Ibs. 

1846    33"    „ 

1847    33       „ 

1848 35TV  „ 

By  a  return  now  before  me,  I  find  that,  in  the  twelve  months 
ending  the  30th  June,  1849,  the  total  amount  of  coke  consumed 
by  the  locomotive  stock  of  the  Northwestern  Railway  was 
116,396  tons,  or  260,727,040  Ibs.,  which  produced  a  total  mile- 
age of  the  engines  amounting  to  7,532,230.  Dividing  the  for- 
mer by  the  latter,  we  find  the  consumption  per  engine  per 
mile  to  be  34-6  Ibs. 

As  may  be  expected,  considering  that  the  consumption  of  fuel 
must  depend  on  the  magnitude  and  weight  of  the  trains,  as  well 
as  on  the  speed,  the  consumption  per  mile  is  found  to  vary  con- 
siderably on  different  railways. 

Thus,  on  the  Brighton  and  South  Coast  Railway,  in  the  half- 
year  ending  the  30th  June,  1849,  the  total  consumption  of  coke 
was  6345  tons,  or  14,212,800  Ibs.,  which  produced  a  total  mile- 
age of  the  engines  amounting  to  593,844  miles.  Dividing  the 
former  by  the  latter,  it  appears  that  the  consumption  per  engine 
per  mile  was  about  24  Ibs. 

On  the  same  railway,  during  the  half-year  ending  the  30th 
June,  1848,  the  fuel  consumed  was  9319  tons,  or  20,874,560  Ibs., 
which  produced  a  mileage  of  the  engines  amounting  to  668,785. 
Dividing  the  former  by  the  latter,  the  consumption  per  mile 
proves  to  have  been  31-21  Ibs. 

Since  in  this  case  it  is  not  likely  that  any  material  change 
took  place  in  the  nature  of  the  traffic,  the  increased  economy 
must  have  been  produced  by  improved  management. 

In  comparing  the  total  number  of  engines  worked  with  the 
total  number  lighted,  we  obtain  the  number  of  times  per  annum 
that  each  engine  in  service  was  lighted. 

As  the  number  of  engines  worked  on  the  Belgian  railways  in 
1846  was  151,  and  in  1847,  154,  by  dividing  these  respectively 
into  the  total  number  lighted  already  given,  we  obtain  the  quo- 
tients 181  and  200  very  nearly. 


CHAP.  V.]  THE  LOCOMOTIVE  POWER.  83 

It  appears,  therefore,  that  in  the  year  1846  each  engine,  on 
an  average,  was  lighted  on  181  days,  and  in  1847  on  200  days. 
This  is  on  four  days  per  week  very  nearly. 

From  this  it  foHows,  that  three  days  per  week  were  required, 
upon  an  average,  for  the  rest,  cleaning,  and  repairs  of  an  engine. 

This  result  is  in  accordance  with  another  obtained  previously, 
viz.,  that  the  average  daily  mileage  of  the  engines  was  42  miles, 
which  would  give  an  average  weekly  mileage  of  about  300  miles, 
which  would  be  four  working  days  per  week  of  75  miles,  nearly 
the  amount  of  the  average  run  of  each  engine  lighted. 

One  of  the  most  striking  results  of  the  preceding  calculations 
is  the  apparently  small  amount  of  useful  service  obtained  from 
the  locomotive  engines. 

We  have  seen  that  in  each  run,  an  engine  on  the  Belgian 
lines,  at  the  most  improved  epoch  of  the  service  yet  reported, 
did  not  quite  average  78  miles,  and  that  even  this  was  performed 
only  four  days  in  seven.  Thus  the  average  daily  work  of  an 
engine  would  appear  to  be  only  42  miles. 

But  it  also  appears,  that  for  74  miles  run  the  engine  is  kept, 
on  an  average,  7^  hours  standing.  This  being  reduced  to  a  daily 
average,  leads  to  the  conclusion,  that  the  daily  service  of  the 
engines  consisted  in  42  miles  run  and  3|  hours  standing  with  the 
steam  up. 

But  as  the  average  speed  on  the  Belgian  railways  is  about  20 
miles  an  hour,  the  run  of  42  miles  would  occupy  about  two  hours. 

The  daily  service  of  an  engine,  therefore,  expressed  in  time, 
would  be  nearly  2  hours  working  and  3^  waiting  with  steam  up. 

These  inferences  are  so  striking,  that  we  naturally  turn  else- 
where to  inquire  how  far  the  results  of  other  railways  vary  from 
or  corroborate  them. 

In  general,  the  daily  mileage  of  the  engines  employed  in  the 
service  of  a  railway  may  be  found  by  dividing  the  average  annual 
mileage  by  365.  In  all  cases,  therefore,  where  the  reports 
supply  the  annual  mileage  and  the  number  of  engines,  the  daily 
mileage  is  a  matter  of  easy  calculation. 

The  results  given  in  the  subjoined  table  (see  p.  84)  are  calcu- 
lated from  the  returns  of  the  several  railway  companies  therein 
mentioned  now  before  us. 

From  this  table  it  appears  that  the  useful  daily  service  of 
an  engine  varies  on  the  above  railways  between  28  miles  as  a 
minimum  and  45  as  a  maximum.  This  variation  depends  partly 
on  the  degree  of  skillful  management  under  which  the  locomo- 
tive power  is  placed,  and  partly  on  the  nature  of  the  traffic. 


84 


RAILWAY  ECONOMY. 


.  V. 


Name  of  Railway. 

Year. 

Number 
of 
Engines. 

Total 
Mileage. 

Average 

Mileage 
per 
Engine. 

Average 
daily 
Mileage 
per 
Engine. 

B  el  g  i  an  Railways  

1844 

143 

1,584,532 

11,080 

30-4 

1845 

148 

1,694,203 

11,447 

31-4 

1846 

151 

2,027,014 

13,490 

37-0 

1847 

154 

2,366,885 

15,369 

42-0 

North  of  France  Railway. 

1847 

175 

1,789,152 

10,224 

28-0 

1848 

177 

1,917,855 

10,835 

29-7 

Orleans  Railway  : 

Passenger  traffic  
Goods  traffic  ..... 

- 

43 
9 

483,206 
153,227 

11,237 
17,026 

30-8 
44-0 

Paris  and  Rouen  Railway: 

Passenger  traffic  ... 
Goods  traffic  .... 

" 

40 
10 

406,039 
147,174 

10,151 
14,717 

28-0 
40-0 

29 

335,405 

11,565 

31-6 

Gard  Railway  : 

Passenger  traffic 

5 

82,429 

16,486 

45-0 

Goods  traffic 

13 

191,814 

14,755 

40-0 

Rhenish  Railway  

16 

201,534 

12,596 

35-0 

Totals  and  general  averages 

- 

1113 

13,380,469 

12,022 

32-9 

The  data  supplied  by  the  English  railways  are  so  scarce,  and 
in  general  so  vague,  as  to  afford  no  adequate  means  of  general 
comparison  with  the  results  above  given.  In  the  case"  of  the 
London  and  Northwestern  lines,  however,  a  more  detailed  ac- 
count has  been  published,  which,  considering  the  great  extent 
and  traffic  of  that  system  of  railways,  is  entitled  to  much  atten- 
tion. 

On  these  lines,  during  the  twelve  months  ending  June  30, 
1849,  there  was  a  stock  of  504  locomotives;  but  of  this  number, 
47  were  in  store,  newly-made,  and  not  yet  worked.  The  num- 
ber of  engines,  therefore,  actually  worked  during  the  year,  was 
457.  These  engines  supplied  the  locomotive  power,  not  only 
to  the  Northwestern  lines,  properly  so  called,  but  to  the  fol- 
lowing railways  : 

Miles. 

Chester  and  Holyhead 80'50 

Preston,  Lancaster,  and  Carlisle 90-00 

Kendal  and  Windermere 9  75 

Shropshire  Union  (Shrewsbury  and  Stafford) 29 '25 

North  Union  (Parkside  and  Preston) 22'00 


Total 231-50 

London  and  Northwestern,  main  line  and  branches  .   438-00 


Total. 


669-50 


CHAP.  V.]  THE  LOCOMOTIVE  POWER.  86 

The  traffic  of  these  lines  was  worked,  during  the  twelve 
months  ending  June  30,  1849,  by  457  locomotive  engines,  the 
total  mileage  of  which  was  as  follows : 

Mileage. 

Passenger  engines 4,649,556 

Goods  engines 2,882,674 

Total 7,532,230 

Hence  the  average  daily  run  of  each  engine  was  45  miles. 

These  results,  obtained  from  services  so  various  and  numerous, 
leave  no  doubt  that  the  average  daily  service  of  each  locomotive 
engine  is  much  less  than  would  have  been  expected.  If  the 
average  speed  on  the  Northwestern  lines  be  taken  at  28  miles 
an  hour,  we  shall  obtain  the  singular  and  somewhat  unexpected 
conclusion,  that  the  engines,  taken  one  with  another,  are  each 
worked  with  traffic  little  more  than  one  hour  and  a  half  a  day. 

By  a  return  which  I  have  obtained  from  the  Northwestern 
Company,  I  find  that,  in  the  twelve  months  ending  June  30, 
1849,  they  had  in  active  employment  an  average  number  of  275 
engine-drivers,  and  an  equal  number  of  firemen.  Now  it  has 
already  been  stated,  that  during  the  same  period  the  number  of 
engines  employed  was  457;  there  were  thus  10  engine-drivers 
and  firemen  for  every  16  engines. 

By  dividing  the  total  annual  mileage  of  the  engines  by  the 
total  number  of  engine-drivers  and  firemen  employed,  we  shall 
find  the  total  annual  distance  driven  by  each;  and  dividing  this 
by  365,  we  shall  obtain  the  average  daily  work  of  each  engine- 
driver  and  fireman,  expressed  in  distance.  This  distance,  divided 
by  the  average  speed  in  miles  per  hour,  will  give  the  daily  work 
on  the  road  in  time.  The  following  are  the  details  of  this  for 
the  lines  worked  by  the  Northwestern  Company : 

Total  mileage  of  engines 7,532.230 

Number  of  engine-drivers  and  firemen. . . .  275 

Annual  distance  worked  per  head 27,390  miles. 

Daily  distance  worked  per  head 75 

Time  daily  on  the  road  (at  the  average 

speed  of  28  miles  per  hour) 2|  hours. 

If  it  be  assumed  that  the  engines,  one  with  another,  work  on 
alternate  days,  the  actual  distance  run  in  each  trip  by  each 
engine  on  the  system  of  lines  worked  by  the  Northwestern 
Company  will  be  90  miles;  which,  in  time,  at  28  miles  an  hour, 
would  be  very  nearly  3T3T  hours. 

It  appears,  therefore,  that  the  locomotive  power  is  worked  to 


86  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.V. 

greater  advantage  on  these  than  on  the  continental  lines  gen- 
erally. We  have  seen  that  the  average  distance  run  by  each 
engine  lighted  on  the  Belgian  lines  was  about  75  miles. 

It  has  been  customary,  in  some  of  the  reports  presented  to 
the  railway  companies,  to  institute  comparisons  between  one 
line  of  railway  and  another,  founded  upon  the  relation  between 
the  locomotive  stock  and  the  Jength  of  the  line. 

Now  such  a  mode  of  comparison  can  afford  no  legitimate 
consequence  of  the  least  importance,  either  in  a  financial  or 
mechanical  point  of  view.  The  quantity  of  locomotive  power 
does  not  in  any  manner  depend  on  the  length  of  the  railway. 
The  locomotive  power  is  used  to  draw  the  traffic,  and  for  no 
other  purpose.  Its  quantity,  therefore,  will  depend  on  the 
quantity  of  the  traffic,  and  the  average  distance  to  which  it  is 
carried,  or,  in  other  words,  OH  the  mileage  of  the  goods  and 
passengers. 

Two  railways  having  the  same  traffic  mileage  will  require 
the  same  locomotive  stock,  be  their  length  eqilal  or  unequal. 
If  a  million  of  tons  of  goods  require  to  be  annually  transported 
an  average  distance  of  500  miles,  and  ten  millions  of  passengers 
also  require  to  be  annually  transported  300  miles,  it  is  manifest 
that  the  same  locomotive  power  will  be  requisite  to  execute  the 
traffic,  whether  the  railway  on  which  it  is  carried  be  400  miles 
or  800  miles  in  length. 

If  the  object  be  to  compare  the  merits  of  the  management 
of  the  locomotive  power,  then  the  test  of  comparison  should  be 
the  quantity  of  work  executed  by  a  given  quantity  of  this  power; 
and  the  quantity  of  work  must  be  decided  by  the  useful  mileage 
of  the  engines,  and  not  by  the  length  of  the  line. 

Nevertheless,  we  find  railway  authorities  in  high  repute  an- 
nouncing, that  to  stock  a  line  require*  so  many  engines  per  mile. 
To  such  a  statement  there  can  be  no  objection,  provided  it  be 
made  with  the  understanding  that  it  applies  to  railways  only 
which  have  a  certain  understood  amount  of  average  traffic. 

But  it  is  clear  that,  with  every  variation  of  the  traffic  upon 
the  proposed  railway,  there  must  be  a  corresponding  and  pro- 
portional variation  in  the  necessary  amount  of  locomotive  stock. 

A  legitimate  mode  of  comparing  the  merits  of  the  manage- 
ment of  the  locomotive  department  will  be  found  in  the  estimate 
of  the  average  daily  mileage  of  the  engines. 

It  is  evident,  that  if  we  find  on  one  railway — for  example,  the 
Northwestern — the  engines  performing  a  daily  mileage  of  45 
miles,  while  on  another — the  North  of  France — we  find  them 


CHAP.  V.]  THE  LOCOMOTIVE  POWER.  87 

performing  a  daily  service  under  30  miles,  that  the  locomotive 
stock  in  the  one  case  was  more  profitably  managed  than  the 
other  in  the  ratio  of  2  to  3,  it  being  understood  that  other 
things  are  similar.  But  even  in  this  comparison  it  would  be 
necessary  that  the  length  and  weight  of  the  trains  should  be 
taken  into  account;  for  if  it  prove  that  the  weight  of  the  train 
drawn  30  miles  is  greater  than  the  weight  of  the  train  drawn 
45  miles  in  the  proportion  of  3  to  2,  then  the  useful  labor  of  the 
engines  will,  after  all,  be  the  same.  In  short,  the  test,  and  the 
only  test,  of  the  useful  effect  of  the  locomotive  power  is  the 
actual  mileage  (including  in  that  term  the  quantity)  of  the  traffic 
which  it  executes  in  a  given  time. 

It  may  be  well  here  to  repeat  what  is  to  be  understood,  through 
this  work,  by  the  term  mileage. 

The  entire  amount  of  traffic  of  a  given  kind  is  supposed  to  be 
reduced  to  another  imaginary  amount  carried  one  mile;  and  the 
expression  thus  obtained  will  involve  at  once  the  consideration 
of  weight  and  distance.  Thus,  for  instance,  if  10,000  tons  be 
carried  100  miles,  we  assume  it  to  be  equivalent  to  a  million  of 
tons  carried  one  mile,  this  last  expression  being  denominated 
the  mileage  of  the  tons.  It  is  evident  that  such  an  expression 
combines  the  consideration  of  both  weight  and  distance. 

The  conditions  which  determine  the  amount  of  the  locomotive 
stock  necessary  to  work  any  given  railway  form  a  very  important 
subject  of  inquiry  in  railway  economy  ;  but  it  is  a  subject  upon 
which  we  as  yet  possess  but  scanty  and  unsatisfactory  data.  As 
has  been  already  stated,  railway  authorities  have,  with  more  rash- 
ness than  skill,  given  a  sort  of  rough  estimate  of  it  a*  so  much 
per  mile.  This  must,  however,  be  regarded  as  utterly  unworthy 
of  attention,  for  the  very  intelligible  reasons  already  explained. 

The  amount  of  locomotive  stock  depends  exclusively  on  the 
mileage  of  the  traffic.  We  shall  see,  in  a  subsequent  chapter, 
how,  when  the  quantity  and  quality  of  the  traffic  is  given,  the 
number  and  mileage  of  the  trains  necessary  for  it  can  be  ascer- 
tained. This  being  done,  the  mileage  of  the  engines  necessary 
to  work  these  trains  easily  follows. 

The  question  is  thus  reduced  to  the  determination  of  the 
number  of  engines  necessary  to  work  a  giveiv  mileage. 

If  we  assume  the  results  of  the  working  of  the  Northwest- 
ern lines  as  a  general  modulus,  it  would  follow,  that  to  find  the 
quantify  of  stock  necessary  for  working  a  given  daily  mileage,  it 
will  be  sufficient  to  divide  this  mileage  by  45 ;  the  quotient  will 
express  the  requisite  number  of  locomotive  engines. 


88  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  V. 

But  if  there  be  any  thing  in  the  peculiar  nature  of  the  traffic 
to  show  the  practicability  of  better  economizing  the  locomotive 
power,  and  of  obtaining  from  the  engines  a  greater  average 
amount  of  daily  work;  or,  on  the  contrary,  if  there  be  any  thing 
in  the  proposed  service  to  render  it  impracticable  to  obtain  so 
great  an  average  amount  of  daily  work,  then  the  estimated  aver- 
age of  45  miles  must  be  augmented  or  diminished,  according  to 
the  proposed  conditions. 

It  is  found  that  the  number  of  tenders  ought  to  be  equal  to  the 
number  of  engines. 

In  the  absence  of  more  certain  and  exact  data,  we  may  assume, 
as  the  means  of  an  approximate  calculation,  that  the  amount  of 
the  locomotive  stock  necessary  for  each  line  of  railway  is  in  the 
direct  proportion  of  the  gross  amount  of  its  receipts,  these  re- 
ceipts being  taken  as  the  modulus  of  the  traffic. 

We  find  by  the  official  returns  of  the  railway  commissioners 
for  the  half-year  ending  December  31,  1848,  that  the  receipts 
of  the  lines  worked  by  the  locomotive  stock  of  the  Northwestern 
Company  was  661,320,819,  while  the  total  receipts  of  all  the 
lines  open  for  traffic  was  665,744,964.  It  follows,  therefore, 
that  the  ratio  of  the  traffic  of  all  the  railways  of  the  United 
Kingdom,  taken  collectively,  to  that  of  the  lines  worked  by  the 
Northwestern  Company,  was  43  to  10  nearly. 

Since,  then,  the  number  of  locomotive  engines  and  tenders 
necessary  to  work  the  traffic  of  the  Northwestern  lines  was 
457,  the  number  necessary  for  the  traffic  of  all  the  railways  col- 
lectively would  be  457  X  ^  =  1965. 

It  follows,  therefore,  from  this  approximate  calculation,  that 
the  total  work  of  the  five  thousand  miles  of  railway  open  for 
traffic  on  Jan.  1,  1849,  was  performed  by  1965  locomotives. 

In  the  same  manner,  assuming  that  the  mileage  of  locomo- 
tives, in  performing  this  work,  was  proportional  to  that  of  the 
Northwestern  engines,  its  total  amount  would  be  found  by 
multiplying  the  mileage  of  the  Northwestern  engines  by  4«3. 
Thus  we  have 

7,532,230x4-9-  =  32,388,589. 

The  total  distance  tun,  therefore,  by  all  the  locomotives  work- 
ing the  traffic  of  the  railways  of  the  United  Kingdom  for  the 
twelve  months  ending  June  30,  1849,  was  32,388,589  miles. 

This  gives  a  total  daily  mileage  of  88,736  miles. 

To  illustrate  these  stupendous  results,  let  us  compare  them 


CHAP.  VI.]  THE  CARRYING  STOCK.  89 

with  moduli  more  in  accordance  with  their  magnitude  than  are 
the  ordinary  phenomena  witnessed  around  us. 

The  distance  from  the  earth  to  the  sun  is  ninety-six  millions 
of  miles. 

The  locomotives  of  the  British  railways  would,  at  their  pres- 
ent, rate  of  work,  pass  over  it  in  three  years ! 

The  circumference  of  the  globe  is  twenty-five  thousand  miles. 

The  same  engines,  with  their  present  work,  would  go  seven 
times  round  it  in  two  days ;  and,  in  doing  so,  each  engine  would 
work  only  3£  hours. 

Taking  the  average  consumption  of  fuel  by  the  locomotives  at 
35  Ibs.  per  mile,  the  total  consumption  for  the  twelve  months 
ending  June  30,  1849,  would  be  found  as  follows; 

32,388,589  miles  at  35  Ibs.  per  mile  =  506,071  tons. 

The  traffic  was  therefore  worked  by  half  a  million  of  tons  of 
coke. 

But  ten  tons  of  coal  are  required  to  make  seven  tons  of  coke. 
The  quantity  of  coal  consumed  in  making  the  coke  was  there- 
fore 728,958  tons. 

We  may,  therefore,  conclude,  that  the  railways  consume  at 
present  nearly  three  quarters  of  a  million  of  tons  of  coal  annually. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE    CARRYING    STOCK. 

THE  various  forms  of  vehicle  composing  the  carrying  stock  of 
a  railway  consist,  like  the  locomotive  stock,  of  two  classes,  cor- 
responding to  the  two  great  divisions  of  railway  traffic,  the  traffic 
in  passengers  and  the  traffic  in  goods. 

By  passenger  trains  are  conveyed,  besides  passengers,  certain 
other  objects  of  transport  which  require  expedition,  and  can  bear 
a  tariff  of  corresponding  amount.  These  are  principally  car- 
riages, horses,  baggage,  parcels,  and  the  mails. 

By  the  goods  or  merchandise  trains  are  conveyed  all  descrip- 
tions of  merchandise,  of  heavy  goods  and  live  stock,  such  as 
cattle,  sheep,  pigs,  and  calves. 

These  two  species  of  traffic  are  conducted  by  a  different  set 


90  EAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  VI. 

of  agents,  and  in  a  great  measure  by  a  different  establishment, 
though  connected  with  the  same  company. 

The  trains  are  in  general  propelled  by  a  different  class  and 
form  of 'engine,  at  different  speeds,  and  in  some  cases  at  differ- 
ent epochs  in  the  24  hours.  In  short,  between  these  two  classes 
of  traffic  there  is  very  little  in  common,  except  the  road  on  which 
they  are  transported ;  and  it  is  doubtful  whether  the  advantage 
of  the  railways  would  not  have  been  better  consulted,  if  a  sepa- 
rate line  of  rails  had  been  laid  for  the  goods  traffic. 

It  is  true  that  on  most  of  the  continental  lines,  and  occasion- 
ally on  the  English  railways,  one  or  two  passenger  carriages  are 
often  attached  to  goods  trains,  and  goods  wagons  are  occasionally 
attached  to  passenger  trains ;  but  these  may  be  regarded  as  ex- 
ceptions to  the  general  rule.  We  shall  therefore  fall  into  no 
error  of  practical  importance,  if  we  consider  the  passenger  trains 
as  exclusively  devoted  to  the  one  class  of  traffic,  and  the  goods 
trains  to  the  other. 

To  each  of  the  objects  composing  the  passenger  traffic  a  par- 
ticular form  of  vehicle  is  appropriated.  The  first-class  passenger 
is  accommodated  with  a  spacious  carriage,  in  which  usually  a 
separate  seat  is  divided  off  for  each  passenger,  the  interior  being 
luxuriously  cushioned,  lined,  and  carpeted.  Convenient  means 
of  varying  the  ventilation  at  the  will  of  the  passenger  are  pro- 
vided over  the  windows.  A  lamp  is  placed,  in  some  of  the  best 
conducted  railways,  in  the  centre  of  the  roof,  with  a  reflector 
projecting  the  light  downward,  which  illuminates  the  carriage  in 
passing  through  tunnels,  and  at  night.  In  some  railways,  also, 
a  heater  is  placed  in  cold  weather  in  first-class  carriages  under 
the  feet  of  the  passengers,  and  other  accommodations  of  minor 
importance  are  provided. 

Carriages  are  appropriated  to  the  second-class  passengers,  in 
which  the  seats  are  not  divided,  and  where  less  room  is  left  for 
each  passenger.  On  the  continental  lines  these  carriages  are 
usually  lined,  and  have  the  seats  cushioned.  Less  space  is  also 
left  between  the  seats ;  carpets  are  not  provided  ;  nor  are  they 
always  lighted  or  ventilated  ;  and  never  warmed. 

The  carriages  appropriated  to  third-class  passengers  are  still 
more  contracted  in  the  space  allowed  for  a  given  number  of 
passengers.  They  are  neither  cushioned,  lined,  carpeted,  ven- 
tilated, nor  illuminated,  and  in  some  cases  are  unprovided  with 
any  other  means  of  closing  the  windows  than  wooden  blinds  or 
coarse  curtains.  These  carriages  are,  however,  usually  roofed. 
These  several  arrangements  vary  much  in  different  railways. 


CHAP.  VI.]  THE  CARRYING  STOCK.  91 

The  carriages  provided  for  the  transport  of  horses  are  called 
horse-loxes.  Each  of  them  consists  usually  of  three  stalls,  the 
animal  standing  across  the  road,  and  therefore  being  carried 
sideways,  and  being  completely  inclosed  and  covered  in. 

Private  carriages  are  transported  on  flat  trucks  constructed 
for  the  purpose.  They  are  rolled  upon  these,  and  when  brought 
to  their  position,  wedges  are  placed  before  and  behind  the 
wheels,  and  the  carriages  are  lashed  in  their  places. 

Passengers'  baggage,  except  such  small  baggage  or  packages 
as  the  passengers  are  enabled  to  take  with  them,  is  usually  carried 
in  baggage-vans  appropriated  to  the  purpose,  which  are  placed 
under  the  superintendence  of  a  baggage  conductor.  These  vans 
are  divided  into  compartments,  so  as  to  enable  the  conductor  to 
sort  the  baggage  according  to  its  place  of  destination. 

In  some  railways,  including  most  of  the  English  lines,  pas- 
sengers' baggage  is  placed  on  the  roof  of  the  passenger  car- 
riages. 

Under  the  title  of  parcels  is  included  that  class  of  transport 
which,  before  the  establishment  of  railways,  was  denominated 
coach  parcels,  and  which  on  the  Continent  is  called  "  Articles 
de  Messagerie."  This  class  of  traffic,  before  the  establishment 
of  railways,  was  also  extensively  expedited  in  vans,  which  trav- 
eled at  5  or  6  miles  an  hour. 

The  increased  powers  of  expeditious  transport  obtained  by 
railways  has  augmented  this  class  of  transport  in  a  very  large 
ratio. 

For  the  transport  of  the  mails  a  special  vehicle  is  provided, 
which  is  a  moving  post-office,  being  a  bureau  of  considerable 
magnitude,  provided  with  all  the  usual  office  furniture,  and  all 
the  necessary  means  for  the  sorting  of  the  correspondence  as 
the  train  proceeds. 

In  this  way  a  certain  portion  of  the  business  of  the  post-office, 
formerly  executed  before  the  dispatch  of  the  mails,  is  performed 
upon  the  road,  whereby  expedition  is  gained. 

On  some  of  the  foreign  railways,  cattle,  sheep,  and  pigs  are 
also  sent  by  the  passenger  trains.  In  England  these  are,  how- 
ever, sent  by  goods  trains. 

Commodities  of  consumption  which  are  perishable  are  fre- 
quently sent  by  the  passenger  trains.  Thus,  on  the  continental 
railways,  the  produce  of  the  dairy,  the  garden,  and  the  farm- 
yard, as  well  as  fish,  are  frequently  sent  by  these  trains. 

The  goods  trains  are  appropriated  to  the  transport  of  heavy 
commodities  of  every  description.  They  consist  of  wagons  of 


92  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  VI. 

various  forms,  some  closed,  some  open,  some  having  sides  and 
ends,  but  open  at  the  top,  and  some  being  mere  platforms  on 
wheels. 

These  are  appropriated  to  the  transport  of  different  classes 
of  goods,  according  to  their  quality,  and  the  degree  of  care  and 
shelter  necessary  for  them. 

The  roofs  of  close  wagons  are  frequently  covered  with  an 
awning  prepared  with  caoutchouc,  so  as  to  render  them  water- 
proof. 

The  forms  of  the  wagons  appropriated  to  cattle  vary  accord- 
ing to  the  class  of  cattle  they  are  intended  to  carry. 

Beasts  are  carried  in  wagons  having  only  a  single  tier.  Pigs 
and  sheep  are  often  carried  in  the  same  wagon,  tier  above  tier, 
and  crowded  very  closely  together,  a  wagon  not  unfrequently 
carrying  70  to  80.  To  facilitate  the  loading  and  discharge,  these 
classes  of  animals  are  sometimes  sent  in  cribs  provided  by  their 
owners,  which  only  require  to  be  laid  and  fastened  upon  a  plat- 
form wagon. 

The  carrying  stock  of  a  system  of  railways  forms  an  import- 
ant item  in  its  movable  capital. 

On  the  Belgian  railways,  consisting,  as  has  been  stated,  of  347 
miles,  there  were,  on  1st  January,  1847,  724  passenger  carriages 
and  2507  goods  wagons. 

On  the  North  of  France  railway  there  were,  on  1st  January, 
1848  (322  miles  of  railway  being  then  open),  the  following  car- 
rying stock : 

First-class  passenger  coaches 102 

Second-class  passenger  coaches 183 

Third-class  passenger  coaches 199 

Baggage-wagons 97 

Carriage-trucks 78 

Horse-boxes 50 

Milk- wagons    20 

Goods-wagons    1459 

Sugar-wagons 200 

Cattle- wagons   410 

Sheep-wagons   50 

Post-offices  2 

Total  stock  of  vehicles   2850 

According  to  the  report  of  Captain  Huish,  the  following  was 
the  amount  and  value  of  the  carrying  stock  of  the  Northwest- 
ern Railway  Company,  on  the  1st  January,  1848. 


CHAP.  VI.] 


THE  CARRYING  STOCK. 


Passenger  Vehicles. 

Southern 
Division. 

Northern 
Division. 

Manchester 
and 
Birmingham. 

S 

Value. 

Average 
Price. 

Total. 

JVo. 
1 

JVc. 

JV*. 

JV». 
1 
28 
326 
32 
35 
401 
150 
75 
8 
210 
217 
26 
62 
9 
13 
5 
19 
2 
4 
1 

£. 
900 
420 
320 
250 
200 
220 
170 
80 
390 
105 
88 
180 
175 
100 
210 
220 
20 
60 
30 
160 

£. 
900 
11,760 
104,960 
8,000 
7,000 
88,220 
25,500 
6,000 
3,120 
22,050 
19,096 
4,680 
10,850 
900 
2,730 
1,100 
380 
120 
120 
160 

First  class,  6  wheels  
Do.         4      do  
Mails  

20 
154 
16 
25 
178 
52 
43 
3 
136 
149 
13 
42 
4 
6 

8 
136 
16 
6 
178 
80 

54 
56 
6 
18 
5 
7 
5 
14 
2 
4 

38 

4 
45 
18 
32 
5 
20 
12 
7 
2 

"5 

Third  class  (closed)  

Post-offices  

Carriage-trucks  

Guard-  vans  

Bullion-vans 

Post-office  tenders  

Milk-trucks 

Convict  carriage-truck.  . 

Goods  rehicles. 
6  Ton  large  goods  wagons 
4}  "  ordinary        do. 
3£  "  small              do. 

-- 

1 

" 

842 

596 

188 

1626 

317,646 

I  831 

510 
382 

100 
1593 
1077 
83 

29) 
192  ( 
542 
30 
653 

2745 

2129 
495 
653 
12 
77 
117 
4 
4 

Timber-trucks 

12 

53 
117 
4 
4 

24 

" 

Sheep-vans  .  

Powder  magazines  .. 

1913 

2877 

1446 

6236 

Viz.: 
Southern  Division,  1913  at  T2l.  1( 
Northern  Division,  2877  at  56Z.  e 
Manchester  and  Birmingham,  14 

s.  eacl 
ach 

,  average  

£          s. 
138,692     10 
161,112       0 
60,009       0 

46  at  4 

\l  10s 

The  carrying  stock,  like  the  locomotive  power,  of  the  North- 
western Company,  was  used  to  work  the  traffic  of  other 
lines  which  the  company  contracted  to  supply  with  rolling 
stock. 


94  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  VI. 

Passenger  vehicles  were  supplied  by  the  company  for  the 
entire  traffic  of  the  following  lines  during  the  twelve  months, 
ending  30th  June,  1849  : 

Miles. 

London  and  Northwestern,  and  its  branches 438 

Chester  and  Holyhead 801 

Kendal  and  Windermere 9| 

Shrewsbury  and  Stafford  (Shropshire  Union) 29£* 

Preston  and  Carlisle 90 

Preston  and  Parkside  (North  Union) 22 

Total  supplied  with  passenger  vehicles  .......   669^ 

Goods  vehicles  were  provided  for  all  the  above  lines,  except 
the  Preston  and  Carlisle. 

In  the  carrying  department  a  register  should  be  kept  exhibit- 
ing the  mileage  of  each  individual  vehicle,  similar  to  the  register 
already  described  in  the  drawing  department;  but  inasmuch  as 
the  duty  of  the  carrying  stock  is  more  simple  than  that  of  the 
drawing  stock,  there  will  be  less  complexity  in  such  a  register. 
All  that  can  be  required  is,  that  the  carrying  stock  shall  be 
classed  .and  properly  designated  by  numbers,  so  that  each  vehi- 
cle may  be  distinguished  and  referred  to. 

In  the  register  should  be  stated  the  total  mileage  from  month 
to  month,  of  each  particular  vehicle.  By  comparing  the  total 
mileage  of  all  the  vehicles,  of  any  particular  class,  worked  upon 
the  railway  with  the  number  of  such  vehicles  included  in  the 
carrying  stock,  the  average  mileage  of  each  vehicle  of  that  class 
can  be  ascertained. 

Thus  if  C  express  in  general  the  number  of  any  particular 
class  of  vehicle,  and  c  the  total  annual  mileage  of  such  class, 

then  £  will  be  the  average  annual  mileage  of  each  vehicle  of 

that  class 

As  an  illustration  of  this,  I  give  in  the  following  table  the 
number,  the  total  mileage,  and  the  average  annual  mileage  of 
the  various  classes  of  vehicles  employed  on  the  Belgian  rail- 
ways in  the  year  1844.  In  the  first  column  is  given  the  num- 
ber of  vehicles,  in  the  second  their  total  mileage,  in  the  third 
their  average  annual  mileage,  and  in  the  fourth  their  average 
daily  mileage. 

*  The  Shropshire  Union  was  not  opened  for  traffic  until  June,  1849. 


CHAP.  VI.] 


THE  CARRYING  STOCK. 


Description  of  Vehicle. 

Number. 

Total 

Mileage. 

Average 
annual 
Mileage. 

Average 
daily 
Mileage. 

Passenger-coaches,  1st  class 

110 

1,671,454 

15,195 

41-6 

2d  class  
3d  class 
Baggage-vans  

186 
290 
27 

2,013,231 
2,591,136 
839,000 

10,824 
8,935 
31,074 

29-5 
24-5 
85-0 

Horse-boxes 

33 

25 

1,056,360 
93,208 

32,010 
3,728 

86-0 
10-2 

Carriage-trucks  

75 

310j700 

4,143 

11-0 

1735 

8,432,188 

4,860 

13-0 

36 

139  777 

3,883 

10-5 

"              (sheep,  pigs,  &c.).. 

12 

46,604 

3,882 

10-5 

It  appears  from  this  table  that  very  considerable  differences 
exist,  in  the  case  of  the  Belgian  railways,  betwen  the  extent  to 
which  the  different  classes  of  vehicles  compiling  the  passenger- 
carrying  stock  have  been  utilized.  That  part  of  the  stock,  how- 
ever, which  appears  most  exceptional  in  this  respect,  viz.,  the 
horse-boxes  and  carriage-trucks,  were  comparatively  little  used. 
The  baggage-vans  and  parcel-vans,  on  the  other  hand,  were 
more  largely  utilized,  having  a  daily  mileage  of  more  than  dou- 
ble that  of  the  first-class  passenger  coaches,  while  the  latter 
had  a  considerably  greater  daily  mileage  than  either  the  second 
or  third  class. 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  railway  reports,  whether  in 
England  or  on  the  Continent,  supply  extremely  scanty  mate- 
rials for  general  conclusions  as  to  the  relative  daily  service  of 
the  different  classes  of  vehicles  employed  in  passenger  trains. 
We  have,  however,  some  collective  results,  which  afford  con- 
clusions that  may  pretend  to  generality. 

I  have  arranged  these  in  the  following  table  (see  page  96), 
in  which  is  included  also  the  aggregates  of  the  preceding 
table. 

The  daily  duty  resulting  from  these  calculations  of  the  dif- 
ferent classes  of  carriages  employed  is  so  much  smaller  than 
might  have  been  expected,  that,  if  we  had  not  so  large  a  basis  as 
that  given  above,  some  distrust  might  be  entertained  of  the^ac- 
curacy  of  the  results. 

Although  we  can  not  command,  at  present,  more  extensive 
data  for  the  calculations  of  the  carrying  stock  in  classes,  we 
have  some  further  means  of  estimating  its  collective  amount, 
the  results  of  which  will  further  corroborate  the  above  con- 
clusions. 


EAILWAY  ECONOMY. 


[CHAP.  VI. 


Name  of  Railway. 

Number 
of 
Carriages. 

Total 

Mileage. 

Average 
annual 
Mileage. 

Average 
dnily 
Mileage. 

First-Class  Carriages. 
Belgian  Lines,       1844 

110 

1  671  454 

15  195 

41-5 

North  of  France,  1847  

101 

1,889,990 

18,811 

51-0 

«                1848            

102 

1,544,011 

15  137 

41-5 

Totals  and  averages  

313 

5,105,455 

16,311 

44-7 

Second-Class  Carriages. 
Belgian  Lines,      1844  

186 

2,013,231 

10,824 

29-5 

North  of  France,  1847 

183 

2,364  209 

12  919 

35-5 

"                 1848  

183 

2,330,800 

12,731 

35-0 

Totals  and  averages..  

552 

6,708,240 

12,152 

33-3 

Third-Class  Carriages. 

290 

2591,136 

8,935 

24-5 

North  of  France,  1847  

218 

2,442,726 

11,205 

31-0 

"                1848 

200 

2,197,287 

11,042 

30-5 

Totals  and  averages  

708 

7,231,149 

10,213 

27-8 

We  have  before  us  the  collective  mileages  and  quantities  of 
the  carrying  stock  used  on  five  foreign  railways,  including  the 
results  of  the  year  1845  of  the  Belgian  railways.  We  have 
given  these  in  the  following  table  : 


Mileage  of  Passenger-carrying  Stock. 

Names  of  Railways. 

No.  of 
Vehicles  in 
carrying 
stock. 

Total 
Mileage 

Average 
annual 
Mileage. 

Average 
daily 
Mileage. 

269 
207 
119 
63 
940 

4,462,822 
4,817,792 
2,427,924 
1,084,373 
10,030,078 

16,613 
23,274 
21,669 
17,212 
11,202 

45-5 
64-0 
59-0 
47-0 
31-0 

Alsatian  Railways  -- 

Belgian  Railways,  1845  

1591 

22,828,989 

14,349 

39-0 

The  daily  mileage  obtained  here,  as  the  average  for  all  classes 
of  vehicles  used  in  passenger  traffic  on  the  above  railways,  is 
greater  than  what  would  result  from  the  previous  calculations. 
This  is  explained  by  the  particular  character  of  the  traffic  on 
the  principal  lines  included  in  the  table.  They  pass,  in  general, 


THE  CARRYING  STOCK. 


97 


through  districts  thinly  peopled,  having  few  important  stations 
and  few  departures,  the  consequence  of  which  is,  that  the  dis- 
tance traveled  in  a  single  trip,  or  the  average  mileage  of  the 
passengers,  is  greater  than  in  the  case  of  railways  passing 
khrough  a  more  densely  peopled  country.  This  is  rendered 
manifest  in  the  table  itself,  by  the  comparatively  small  daily 
mileage  afforded  by  the  vehicles  on  the  Belgian  railways. 

As  I  have  so  often  already  stated,  we  are  without  the  neces- 
sary data  for  making  similar  calculations  with  respect  to  English 
railways  generally  ;  but  I  have  procured  a  return  of  the  carrying 
etock  on  the  lines  worked  by  the  Northwestern  Railway  during 
the  half-year  ending  31st  December,  1848,  which  will  supply 
inferences  which  are  valuable  in  proportion  to  the  great  extent 
of  railway  to  which  they  refer.  I  have  already  shown  that 
these  returns  include  the  traffic  on  nearly  seven  hundred  miles 
of  the  most  active  railway  enterprise  in  the  United  Kingdom. 

In  the  previous  table  I  have  given  the  number  of  vehicles 
employed  in  the  passenger  traffic,  their  total  mileage,  as  calcu- 
lated from  the  average  loads  estimated  by  Captain  Huish,  as 
being  transported  in  each  class  of  carriage,  and  the  total  mileage 
of  the  passengers,  of  which  I  possess  a  return. 


TABULAR  ANALYSIS  of  the  Movement  of  the  Passenger-carrying  Stock 
on  the  Lines  worked  by  the  Northwestern  Company  during  the  Half- 
year  ending  December  31,  1848. 

Number 
of 
Vehicles. 

Total 

Mileage. 

Average 
Mileage 

Vehicle. 

Average 
daily 
Mileage 

Vehicle. 

Passenger  coaches  : 

451 
416 

4,834,324 
3,448,364 
1,606,760 

10,719 
8,289 
7,016 

58-8 
45-5 
38-6 

2d  class          

3d  class 

1096 

9,889,448 

9,023 

49-5 

The  general  accordance  of  these  results  is  remarkable,  and, 
considering  the  great  extent  of  mileage,  and  the  various  sources 
from  which  they  are  derived,  the  conclusions  deduced  from 
them  may  be  considered  to  be  attended  with  much  precision 
and  generality.  We  may  therefore  be  safe  in  assuming,  as  a 
fair  approximate  estimate  of  passenger  traffic  as  now  worked 
on  British  railways,  that  the  average  daily  mileago  of  first, 
E 


RAILWAY  ECONOMY. 


[CHAP.  VI. 


second,  and  third-class  coaches  is  59,  45,  and  38  miles  respect- 
ively. 

In  calculations,  therefore,  of  the  requisite  amount  of  carrying 
i  stock  of  each  class,  it  is  only  necessary  to  obtain  an  estimate  of 
the  mileage  from  the  assumed  traffic,  the  method  of  ascertain- 
ing which  we  shall  explain  hereafter.  Let,  then,  the  estimated 
daily  mileage  of  the  first-class  carriages  be  divided  by  59,  that 
of  the  second-class  carriages  by  45,  and  that  of  the  third-class 
carriages  by  38,  and  the  quotients  will  give  the  number  of  each 
of  these  classes  of  vehicles  necessary  to  work  the  traffic. 

Meanwhile,  let  us  proceed  to  the  examination  of  the  mer- 
chandise-carrying stock. 

For  this  purpose,  we  have  data  sufficiently  extensive  derived 
from  foreign  railways. 

In  the  following  table  T  have  given  the  goods-carrying  stock 
and  its  mileage  on  the  undermentioned  lines. 


Mileage  of  the,  Goods-carrying  Stock. 

Name  of  Railway. 

Number 
of 
Vehicles. 

Total  Mileage. 

Average 
annual 
Mileage. 

Average 
daily 
Mileage. 

Belgian  Railways,  1844  
"                   1845...,.-.. 
North  of  France,      1847  

1,783 
2,073 
2,316 
3,069 
380 
420 
155 
304 

8,618,569 
14,103,406 
13,402,330 
14,505,689 
3,783,963 
4,237,034 
1,389,847 
2,267,962 

4,883 
6,803 
5,786 
4,739 
9,957 
10,088 
8,966 
7,460 

14-0 
19-0 
16-0 
13-0 
27-0 

24-0 
20-5 

1848  ' 

Alsacian  Railways  

Rhenish  Railways  

Totals  and  averages  

10,500 

62,308,800 

5,934 

16-25 

The  discordance  which  prevails  in  some  of  these  results  ad- 
mits of  easy  explanation.  On  lines  which  pass  through  a  thinly 
peopled  district,  having  but  few  stations,  the  distances  to  which 
the  traffic  is  transported  are  proportionally  great,  and,  accord- 
ingly, the  average  daily  mileage  of  the  wagons  is  increased.  In 
the  case  of  more  busy  traffic,  as  on  the  Belgian  and  North  of 
France  railways,  the  distances  are  less,  and  we  find,  accord- 
ingly, the  average  daily  run  of  the  wagons  proportionally  de- 
creased. 

The  general  average  of  16  miles  may  be  taken  as  a  fair  esti- 
mate, at  least  on  the  continental  railways. 

According  to  the  reports  of  Captain  Huish,  given  above,  the 


CHAV.  VI.]  THE  CARRYING  STOCK.  99 

goods-carrying  stock  on  the  lines  worked  by  the  Northwestern 
Company,  in  1848-9,  consisted  of  6236  vehicles  of  all  descrip- 
tions, the  chief  part  of  which  were  merchandise  wagons,  carry- 
ing an  average  load  of  21  tons.  We  have  no  direct  or  accurate 
means  of  calculating  the  mileage  of  this  stock,  but  I  have  made 
an  approximate  estimate  of  it  by  comparing  the  total  receipts 
with  the  average  tariff  per  ton  per  mile. 

TABULAR  ANALYSIS  of  the  Movement  of  the  Goods-carrying  Stock  on 
the  Lines  worked  by  the  Northwestern  Company  during  the  half- 
year  ending  Dec.  31,  1848. 

Number  of  vehicles 6,236 

Total  estimated  mileage 31,259,840 

Average  mileage  per  vehicle 5,013 

Average  mileage  per  vehicle,  per  day ., .  27'5 

The  small  amount  of  the  daily  useful  mileage  of  the  goods- 
carrying  stock,  is  explained  by  the  great  length  of  time  which 
is  always  consumed  in  the  loading  and  unloading  of  the  wagons, 
and  in  waiting  for  the  formation  of  complete  loads  and  trains. 
The  goods  are  not  generally  dispatched  at  stated  intervals,  like 
the  passenger  traffic ;  they  are  collected  in  the  goods  depfit, 
sorted  according  to  their  destinations,  and  loaded.  The  wagons 
are  detained  in  sidings,  until  a  sufficient  quantity  is  collected  to 
form  a  complete  load.  When  they  have  arrived  at  their  several 
destinations,  they  have  to  be  discharged,  and  to  wait  for  a  re- 
turn load,  or  to  be  sent  back  empty. 

AH  these  circumstances  involve  a  large  consumption  of  time, 
and  it  will  be  easily  understood,  when  the  speed  of  the  trans- 
port is  considered,  how  small  a  proportion  the  time  of  transport 
must  be  to  the  time  during  which  the  goods-carrying  stock  is 
either  waiting  or  undergoing  the  process  of  loading  or  discharge. 

Taking  the  average  speed  of  the  goods  traffic  on  the  conti- 
nental line  at  14  miles  an  hour,  it  would  follow  that  the  average 
time  that  the  carrying  stock  is  actually  employed  in  carrying 
transport  does  not  much  exceed  one  hour. 

If  we  take  the  average  speed  of  the  goods  trains  on  the  En- 
glish railways  at  18  miles  an  hour,  it  will  follow  that  each  vehicle 
is  worked  for  an  hour  and  a  half  daily.  • 

In  exhibiting  the  annual  duty  of  the  rolling  stock,  it  is  neces- 
sary to  ascertain  the  average  number  of  each  class  of  vehicle 
drawn  by  each  engine,  or,  in  other  words,  the  average  compo- 
sition of  each  train.  This  may  always  be  determined  by  com- 
paring the  analysis  of  the  carrying  stock,  such  as  above  de- 


100  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  VI. 

scribed,  with  the  analysis  of  the  performance  of  the  locomotive 
stock  exhibited  in  the  last  chapter. 

To  ascertain,  for  example,  the  average  number  of  first-class 
carriages  drawn  by  each  engine,  it  is  only  necessary  to  divide 
the  total  mileage  of  the  first-class  carriages  by  the  total  mileage 
of  the  passenger  engines  ;  and  in  the  same  way  may  be  determ- 
ined the  number  of  each  class  of  vehicles  drawn  by  each  class 
of  engine. 

As  an  example  of  this  calculation,  the  following  computation, 
from  the  official  reports  of  the  Belgian  railways  for  1844,  is 
given.  The  numbers  are  merely  the  quotients  found  by  divid- 
ing the  total  mileage  of  the  several  classes  of  vehicles  already 
given  by  the  mileage  of  the  passenger  engines  on  the  one  hand, 
and  of  the  goods  engines  on  the  other. 

Average  Number  of  Vehicles  of  each  Class  drawn  by  each  Engine. 
In  passenger  trains : 

Passenger  carriages,  1st  class T61 

„                  2d  class 1-94 

„                  3d  class 2-50 

Baggage-vans 0'81 

Parcel-vans 1-01 

Horse-boxes  0'09 

Carriage-trucks 0'30 

In  goods  trains : 

Goods-wagons , 15'41 

Cattle-wagons  (beasts) 0'25 

„              (small  cattle) 0'08 

Total  number  drawn : 

In  passenger  trains 8'26 

In  goods  trains 15'74 

To  explain  the  meaning  of  the  numbers  contained  in  the 
above  table,  it  is  only  necessary  to  state  that,  when  it  is  said 
that  the  average  number  of  vehicles  composing  a  passenger 
train  was  8-26,  and  the  average  number  of  vehicles  composing 
a  goods  train  was  15-74,  it  is  meant  that  100  passenger  engines 
drew  826  vehicles,  and  that  100  goods  engines  drew  1574 
vehicles.  In  like  manner,  when  it  is  said  that  the  average 
number  of  taggage.vans  drawn  by  the  passenger  train  was 
0-81,  it  is  meant  that,  in  100  passenger  trains,  there  were  81 
baggage  vans. 

On  railways  where  passenger  traffic  is  to  any  considerable 
extent  combined  with  goods  traffic,  it  is  desirable  that  a  mileage 
account  should  be  kept  of  such  passenger  traffic  as  is  carried 


CHAP.  VI.] 


THE  CARRYING  STOCK. 


101 


with  the  goods  train  separate  from  the  general  passenger 
traffic. 

The  following  example,  computed  from  the  reported  per- 
formance of  the  Paris  and  Orleans  Railway,  will  further  illus- 
trate this. 

As  the  goods  trains  were  frequently  drawn  by  two  engines, 
we  shall  give  separately  the  computation  of  the  average  number 
of  vehicles  drawn  by  such  goods  engines,  and  the  average  num- 
ber of  vehicles  composing  each  train.  The  one  will  be  found 
by  dividing  the  mileage  of  the  vehicles  respectively  by  the  total 
mileage  of  the  goods  engines ;  the  other  will  be  found  by  divid- 
ing them  by  the  mileage  of  the  trains.  The  latter  will  evidently 
give  the  average  composition  of  the  trains ;  while  the  former 
will  give  the  average  composition  of  the  trains,  considering  each 
train  drawn  by  two  engines  as  two  trains. 

In  the  first  column  of  the  following  table  is  given  the  designa- 
tion of  the  vehicles,  in  the  second  is  given  their  mileage,  and  in 
the  third  is  given  the  quotients  obtained  by  dividing  this  mile- 
age by  the  total  mileage  of  the  goods  engines,  which,  in  this 
case,  was  153,227  miles  ;  and  in  the  fourth  column  is  given  the 
quotient  obtained  by  dividing  the  mileage  of  the  vehicles  by  the 
total  mileage  of  the  trains,  which,  in  this  case,  was  140,147. 


Vehicles  drawn. 

Mileage. 

Average 
Number  of 
Vehicles  per 
Engine. 

Average 
Number  of 
Vehicles  per 
Train. 

Flour-wagons  

1,303,298 

8-5 

9-30 

992,244 

6;5 

7-08 

627,614 

4-1 

4*48 

Cattle-wagons         .  . 

580,108 

3-8 

4-14 

Horse-boxes  

22,423 

0-15 

0-16 

Passenger  carriages  : 
1st  class 

21,023 
32,232 

0-14 
0-21 

0-15 
0-23 

2d  class  

140,147 

0-91 

1-00 

3d  class  .  .               

21,023 

0-14 

0-15 

60  725 

0-39 

0-43 

Total  

3,800,837 

23-13 

27-12 

The  reports  of  the  English  railways  afford  no  general  data 
for  such  estimates  of  the  composition  of  the  trains.  Some  con- 
clusions respecting  the  composition  of  the  trains  may,  however, 
be  deduced  from  the  data  given  above,  in  reference  to  the 
traffic  of  the  lines  worked  by  the  Northwestern  Company. 


102  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  VI. 

By  dividing  the  estimated  mileage  of  the  three  classes  of 
passenger-coaches  by  the  mileage  of  the  passenger-engines,  of 
which  we  have  given  the  return,  p.  85,  we  find  that  the  num- 
ber of  each  class  of  carriage  drawn  by  each  engine  was,  on  an 
average,  as  follows : 

1st  class  coaches 2'00 

2d  class      „        1-48 

3d  class      „        0-69 

Total 4-17 

This  result  must  be  interpreted  with  reference  to  the  man- 
ner in  which  the  trains  are  organized  on  these  and  other  En- 
glish railways.  Some  trains  consist  of  first-class  carriages  only; 
others  of  first  and  second-class ;  and  others  exclusively,  or 
principally,  of  third-class  coaches.  The  above  computation 
gives  the  number  of  coaches  of  each  class  which  would  enter 
into  the  composition  of  each  train,  if  the  coaches  of  each  class 
were  uniformly  distributed  among  all  the  trains.  In  the  prac- 
tical working  of  the  line  the  first-class  trains  have  more  than 
2-00  first-class  coaches  ;  and  the  third-class  trains  more  than 
0-69  third-class  coaches. 

It  is  necessary  also  to  state,  that  the  data  on  which  these  cal- 
culations are  made,  so  far  as  relates  to  the  English  lines,  are 
altogether  insufficient  and  unsatisfactory;  and  the  conclusions 
are  only  to  be  received  as  the  best  approximation  that  can  be 
made  with  the  stinted  information  obtained. 

No  data  are  attainable  by  which  either  the  mileage  of  the 
other  vehicles  composing  the  passenger  trains,  such  as  horse- 
boxes, carriage-trucks,  vans,  &c.,  or  the  number  of  these  re- 
spectively which  enter  into  the  average  composition  of  a  train, 
can  be  ascertained,  even  approximately. 

To  ascertain  the  average  number  of  wagons  composing  a 
goods  train,  we  must  divide  the  mileage  of  the  goods  wagons  by 
that  of  the  goods  engines.  This  gives,  for  the  lines  worked  by 
the  Northwestern  Company,  as  quotient,  21-7.  Thus  it  would 
follow  that  the  average  number  of  goods  wagons  entering  a  train 
was  21-7,  which,  with  brake-vans,  &c.,  would  compose  a  train 
of  24  to  25  vehicles. 

These  conclusions,  though  obtained  only  on  approximate  data, 
are  in  near  accordance  with  the  average  magnitudes  of  the  trains, 
according  to  the  estimate  of  Captain  Huish. 

He  estimates  a  passenger  train,  on  the1  Northwestern  lines, 
at  70  tons,  engine  and  tender  included.  If  the  engine  and  ten- 


CHAP.  VI.]  THE  CARRYING  STOCK.  103 

der,  with  their  complement  of  water  and  fuel,  be  taken  at  30 
tons,  and  51  tons  be  allowed  for  each  vehicle  with  its  load,  we 
should  have  about  seven  vehicles  composing  the  train.  But,  from 
the  preceding  calculation,  it  appears  that  of  these,  4-17  are  pas- 
senger-coaches. There  would  remain,  therefore,  about  three 
for  horse-boxes,  carriage-trucks,  luggage  and  parcel-vans,  break- 
vans,  and  post-offices. 

Captain  Huish  also  estimates  the  average  weight  of  a  goods 
train  at  154  tons.  If  34  tons  be  allowed  for  the  engine  and 
tender,  we  shall  have  120  tons  for  the  wagons,  which,  at  5  tons 
per  wagon,  would  give  24  wagons  as  composing  the  train.  By 
the  preceding  computation  the  number  of  goods  wagons  would 
be  nearly  22,  which,  with  brake-vans,  would  make  up  the  esti- 
mated number. 

If  it  be  required  to  exhibit  the  average  extent  to  which  the 
railway  has  been  used  by  the  rolling  stock,  it  will  be  sufficient  to 
compare  the  mileage  of  each  class  of  vehicle  with  the  length  of 
the  line.  To  prevent  erroneous  inferences,  it  will  be  necessary, 
however,  clearly  to  explain  what  meaning  ought  to  be  attached 
to  the  results  of  such  a  process  of  calculation. 

Let  us  first  take  the  locomotive  stock. 

If  the  total  mileage  of  the  passenger  engines  be  divided  by 
the  total  length  of  the  railway  upon  which  they  are  worked,  the 
quotient  will  represent  the  average  number  of  passenger  engines 
which  have  run  over  every  part  of  the  road.  The  meaning  of 
this  is,  that  the  quotient  will  express  the  number  of  passenger 
engines  which,  having  run  each  once  over  the  entire  extent  of 
the  railway,  will  have  accomplished  the  same  total  mileage  as 
have  the  actual  passenger  engines.  In  effect,  this  is  nothing 
more  than  diffusing,  as  it  were,  the  mileage  of  the  engines, 
which  was  unequally  distributed  over  different  parts  of  the  line, 
uniformly  over  the  whole  line. 

The  same  explanation  will  apply  to  the  mileage  of  the  goods 
engines,  and  to  the  mileage  of  every  class  of  vehicles. 

If,  then,  we  divide  successively  the  total  mileage  of  each  class 
of  engines,  and  of  each  class  of  vehicles  composing  the  carrying 
stock,  by  the  length  of  the  railway,  we  shall  find  a  series  of 
quotients  which  will  express  the  number  of  engines  and  of  ve- 
hicles of  each  class,  each  of  which  being  once  moved  over  the 
entire  railway  would  have  accomplished  the  same  total  mileage 
as  the  entire  rolling  stock  has  actually  done. 

Thus,  as  already  explained,  this  process  consists  in  diffusing 
uniformly  over  the  whole  line  the  mileage  of  the  rolling  stock. 


104  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  VI. 

As  an  example  of  this,  let  us  take  the  Belgian  railways  for  the 
year  1844. 

The  entire  length  of  the  railways  on  which  the  rolling  stock 
was  employed  was  347  miles.  If  we  divide  this  into  the  mile- 
age of  the  locomotive  stock  given  in  table  p.  84,  and  into  that  of 
the  carrying  stock  given  in  table  p.  95,  we  shall  obtain  a  series 
of  quotients  which  will  exhibit  the  number  of  engines,  and  mile- 
age of  each  kind,  which,  being  distributed  uniformly  over  the 
whole  length  of  the  railway,  will  represent  the  actual  amount 
of  traffic.  This  is  exhibited  in  the  following  table  : 

TABLE  showing  the  Quantity  of  locomotive  and  carrying  Stock  which, 
being  moved  the  whole  Length  of  the  Belgian  Railways,  consisting 
of  347  Miles,  would  have  the  same  Mileage  as  the  actual  Stock. 

Engines 4556 

Passenger-carrying  stock : 

Passenger  carriages,  1st  class 4814 

„                   2d  class   5802 

„                 3d  class 7467 

Baggage-vans 241 8 

Parcel-vans 3044 

Horse-boxes 268  - 

Carriage-trucks 895 

Goods-carrying  stock : 

Goods-wagons 2429 

Cattle-wagons  (beasts) ,\  .  402 

„     "        (small  cattle) 134 

In  the  case  of  a  system  of  railways  on  which  the  traffic  is 
tolerably  uniform,  this  average  distribution  of  the  traffic  over 
the  entire  line  may  be  safely  adopted  as  the  basis  of  general 
reasoning;  but  it  frequently  happens,  in  an  extensive  system  of 
railways,  that  different  parts  of  the  line  are  very  unequally  used 
by  the  traffic.  An  extremely  active  traffic  will  prevail  on  some 
sections,  while  others  are  comparatively  deserted.  Any  aver- 
age calculation  of  this  kind  requires,  therefore,  in  such  case,  to 
be  applied  in  a  qualified  sense ;  and  indeed  it  is  desirable  in  all 
cases  to  obtain,  as  far  as  practicable,  an  estimate  of  the  extent 
to  which  every  separate  section  of  the  railway  is  used  by  the 
rolling  stock. 

On  the  continental  railways,  where  records  of  the  services 
are  maintained  with  more  care  and  accuracy  than  appears  to  be 
customary  in  England,  the  amount  of  traffic  ou  every  section  of 
the  line  can  be  separately  obtained  and  exhibited.  We  shall 
return  to  this  subject  in  a  following  chapter. 


CHAP.  VI.]  THE  CARRYING  STOCK.  105 

To  ascertain  the  dead  weight  drawn  by  each  engine,  it  is 
only  necessary  to  know  the  average  weight  of  each  species  of 
empty  vehicle.  In  the  case  of  the  Belgian  railways,  the  follow- 
ing were  the  weights  of  the  different  classes  of  vehicles: 

In  Tons. 

Passenger  carriage,  1st  class  . . . . 3' 15 

2d  class 3-00 

3d  class... 2-75 

Baggage-vans 3'50 

Parcel-vans 3'25 

Horse-box 3'40 

Carriage-truck 2'60 

Goods-wagon 2'60 

Cattle-wagon  (beasts) 2"60 

(small  cattle) 2'60 

The  average  amount  of  dead  weight  drawn  by  each  engine 
may  be  found  by  comparing  the  average  composition  of  each 
train  with  the  average  weights  of  the  different  classes  of  car- 
riages composing  it.  Thus,  by  comparing  the  above  tables,  the 
one  showing  the  average  composition  of  the  passenger  and  goods 
trains,  and  the  other  the  weights  of  the  vehicles  composing  them 
respectively,  we  shall  find  the  following  to  be  the  average  dead 
weight  drawn  by  each  class  of  engine : 

In  passenger  trains  :  Tons. 

Passenger  carriages,  1st  class 5'07 

2d  class 5-  82 

3d  class 6-88 

Baggage-vans ." 2'84 

Parcel-vans 3'28 

Horse-boxes 0'30 

Carriage-trucks 0'78 

In  goods  trains : 

Goods- wagons 40'07 

Cattle-wagons  (beasts) 0'65 

(small  cattle)  0'21 

Total  dead  weight  drawn  by  each  engine  : 

In  passenger  trains 27'73 

In  goods  trains 40'93 

As  the  carrying  business  of  the  railway  companies  is  at  present 
conducted,  some  practical  difficulty  may  arise  in  making  deduc- 
tions from  the  mileage  of  the  carrying  stock,  as  compared  with 
that  of  the  traffic ;  for,  as  will  be  presently  explained,  the  car- 
E* 


106  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [OHAP.  VI. 

rying  stock  of  each  company  runs  more  or  less  over  the  lines 
of  the  others.  The  traffic,  therefore,  of  each  company  is  not, 
strictly  speaking,  carried  by  its  own  carrying  stock  exclusively ; 
and,  on  the  other  hand,  its  own  carrying  stock  is  not  exclusively 
employed  in  carrying  its  own  traffic.  If,  however,  it  may  be 
assumed,  in  reference  to  the  operations  of  a  large  company  like 
the  Northwestern,  that  the  average  amount  of  mileage  of  the 
rolling  stock  of  other  companies  which  pass  over  its  lines  is  equal 
to  the  average  mileage  of  its  own  rolling  stock  upon  other  lines, 
the  result  of  calculations  made  by  comparing  the  mileage  of  the 
rolling  stock  with  the  traffic,  will  still  in  the  main  be  correct. 

To  obtain  perfectly  exact  inferences,  however,  with  regard 
to  the  use  of  the  carrying  stock,  we  ought  to  be  in  possession, 
on  the  one  hand,  of  the  total  mileage  of  the  traffic  of  each  class 
carried  by  all  the  companies,  who  use  their  carrying  stock  in 
common,;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  of  an  account  of  the  mileage 
of  the  total  carrying  stock  they  use  in  common.  In  effect,  the 
general  business  should  be  treated  as  though  it  were  the  business 
of  a  single  company,  and  the  general  carrying  stock  similarly 
regarded. 

This  point  naturally  leads  to  the  consideration  of  the  subject 
of  the  clearing-house,  which  we  shall  explain  in  a  subsequent 
chapter. 

To  ascertain  the  proportion  of  the  dead  weight  to  the  profit- 
able load  on  the  English  railways,  we  do  not  possess  as  full  or 
satisfactory  data  as  in  the  case  of  foreign  railways,  where  the 
official  and  other  reports  supply  more  ample  and  minute  details. 
It  may  be  stated,  however,  generally,  that  the  weight  of  the 
first-class  coaches  on  the  English  railways  at  present  varies  from 
4£  tons  to  nearly  5  tons ;  that  the  weight  of  the  second-class 
carriages  varies  from  3£  tons  to  4£  tons:  and  that  of  the  third- 
class  carriages  from  3  to  4  tons. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

MAINTENANCE  AND  REPROBUCTION  OF  THE  ROLLING  STOCK. 

A  QUESTION  has  lately  been  raised  among  railway  companies, 
respecting  the  wear  and  tear  of  the  rolling  stock,  and  the  proper 
method  of  maintaining  it  in  a  state  of  perfect  efficiency. 

Analogies  have  been  suggested  between  this  and  the  perma- 
nent way,  and  it  has  been  argued  that,  as  the  permanent  way, 
notwithstanding  its  annual  repair,  is  liable  to  a  gradual  deteriora- 
tion from  year  to  year,  and  will  at  length  become  so  worn  as  to 
require  complete  renewal;  so  the  rolling  stock,  notwithstanding 
its  annual  repairs,  will  be  in  a  like  condition,  and  at  a  certain 
epoch,  more  or  less  remote,  will  be  brought  to  a  state  of  decrep- 
itude, so  to  speak,  which  will  reduce  its  value  to  that  of  old 
materials;  and  that  at  this  epoch,  whenever  it  may  arrive,  a 
like  renewal  of  the  rolling  stock,  including  under  this  term 
the  drawing  stock  and  the  carrying  stock,  will  become  neces- 
sary. 

It  was  only  lately,  however,  that  the  question  was  raised 
whether  the  rolling  stock  was  really,  in  the  condition  here  de- 
scribed, analogous  to  the  permanent  way,  and  whether  there  is 
in  fact  incidental  to  it  the  insensible  deterioration  not  made 
up  by  the  regular  annual  repairs  and  replacement  of  worn-out 
stock. 

Nothing  can  be  more  simple  and  manifest  than  the  economical 
principles  upon  which  the  solution  of  such  a  question  must  be 
founded.  Railway  companies  have  a  double  character.  They 
are  at  once  proprietors  and  farmers,  landlords  and  tenants.  As 
owners  of  the  road  they  are  proprietors,  as  workers  of  the  road 
they  are  tenants. 

In  the  one  capacity,  they  are  guardians  of  capital;  in  the  other, 
they  are  administrators  of  revenue:  in  the  one,  they  have  an 
interest  to  maintain  the  permanent  way  and  the  floating  capital 
in  the  highest  state  of  efficiency  out  of  revenue ;  in  the  latter, 
they  huve  an  interest  not  to  expend  more  out  of  revenue  than 
they  are  required  to  do  with  reference  to  the  stock  delivered  to 
them  for  work. 

The  first  projectors  of  the  improved  modern  railways  contem- 


1Q8  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  VII. 

plated  themselves  only  as  proprietors  of  the  lines.  They  in- 
tended to  make  a  road,  and  to  offer  it  to  the  public  to  be  run 
upon,  all  persons  having  the  means  of  transport  upon  it,  paying 
them  a  toll  for  its  use.  The  railways,  however,  had  scarcely 
come  into  operation,  when  it  became  glaringly  manifest  that  this 
analogy  to  a  common  road  was  altogether  destitute  of  foundation, 
and  that  the  new  instrument  of  transport  must  be  worked  upon 
principles,  and  by  methods,  totally  different.  It  became  evident, 
in  a  word,  that  the  proprietors  of  the  road  must  themselves  be- 
come carriers  upon  it ;  the  unity  of  management,  and  the  harmony 
of  movement,  indispensable  to  the  efficient  action  of  its  peculiar 
mode  of  transport,  rendering  this  indispensable. 

The  Liverpool  and  Manchester  Railway  Company  therefore 
at  once  provided,  under  the  force  of  circumstances,  an  appa- 
ratus for  transport  between  these  two  great  commercial  marts. 
Other  railways  quickly  succeeded,  and  followed  the  same 
course. 

Various  other  exigencies  soon  pressed  upon  the  railway  pro- 
prietary. In  the  first  instance,  they  derived  their  supply  of 
drawing  and  carrying  stock  from  the  established  manufactories 
of  engines  and  carriages  in  various  parts  of  the  country.  The 
demand,  however,  for  these  objects  of  fabrication  multiplied  with 
unparalleled  rapidity.  A  supply  was  required,  not  only  by  com- 
panies throughout  the  United  Kingdom,  but  by  companies  which 
sprung  into  existence  in  all  parts  of  Europe.  The  established 
manufacturers  were  utterly  unable  to  meet  demands  so  extensive, 
and,  in  a  short  period  after  the  opening  of  the  Liverpool  and 
Manchester  Railway,  all  the  steam-engine  manufacturers  in 
England  had  more  orders  than  they  could  satisfy  in  several 
years. 

Under  these  circumstances,  the  railway  companies  saw  them- 
selves reduced  to  the  alternative,  either  of  suspending  their 
progress,  or  of  fabricating  for  themselves.  They,  of  course, 
adopted  the  latter  measure,  and  proceeded  to  erect  extensive 
works  for  the  manufacture  of  engines  and  carriages,  at  convenient 
points  upon  the  principal  lines. 

Ultimately,  this  measure  was  crowned  with  complete  success; 
and  the  large  companies  were  soon  in  a  condition,  not  only  to 
supply  all  their  own  wants,  but  to  furnish  engine  power  and 
vehicles  of  transport  for  the  smaller  companies,  whose  means 
did  not  justify  them  in  erecting  similar  establishments.  Thus, 
the  Northwestern  Company  have  establishments  for  the  fabri- 
cation of  every  part  of  their  rolling  stock  at  Crewe,  Wolverton, 


CHAP.  VII.]     REPRODUCTION  OF  ROLLING  STOCK.  109 

Lougsight,Liverpool,  and  London;  and  the  other  large  companies, 
though  less  amply,  are  still  adequately  provided.  The  establish- 
ments of  the  Northwestern  Company  are  of  such  magnitude 
as  to  enable  them  to  supply  the  stock  necessary  to  work,  not 
only  their  own  lines,  consisting  of  about  450  miles,  but  also  the 
lines  of  other  companies,  extending  to  about  220  miles  more. 
The  three  factories  at  Crewe,  Wolverton,  and  Longsight  have 
absorbed  a  capital  of  nearly  half  a  million  sterling. 

At  Wolverton,  a  station  about  50  miles  from  London,  and 
therefore  midway  between  London  and  Birmingham,  the  North- 
western Company  have  built  a  factory  for  the  maintenance 
and  repair  of  the  locomotive  stock  employed  upon  this  section 
of  the  railway,  with  its  branches  included  between  London  and 
Birmingham,  formerly  known  as  the  London  and  Birmingham 
Railway,  and  at  present  distinguished  as  the  southern  division 
of  the  Northwestern  Railway.  The  aspect  of  this  establish- 
ment would  afford  to  any  intelligent  observer  a  striking  evidence 
of  the  great  cost  at  which  the  locomotive  power  of  a  railway, 
having  so  active  a  traffic  as  this,  is  maintained.  . 

The  factory  itself,  of  immense  extent,  is  supplied  with  a 
large  stock  of  machinery  of  every  kind  used  in  constructing 
those  great  engines  whose  pei-forraance  has  so  justly  excited 
the  astonishment  and  admiration  of  the  public.  Here  are  seen 
two  or  three  dozen  lathes  driven  by  steam,  as  well  as  planing 
machines,  screw-cutting  machines,  boring  and  drilling  machines, 
and,  in  a  word,  all  the  stock  of  an  engine  factory  on  a  vast 
scale.  Attached  to  it  is  an  extensive  stable,  for  the  reception 
of  the  engines  which  are  under  repair,  corresponding  in  form 
and  magnitude  with  those  already  described  as  being  erected 
at  chief  stations. 

The  company  have  built  a  small  village  around  the  works 
for  the  habitations  of  the  operatives  employed  in  them,  and  we 
there  see  a  population  of  from  1800  to  2000,  with  a  church, 
schools,  libraries,  reading-rooms,  and  all  the  conveniences  that 
an  opulent  and  intelligent  body  like  that  which  presides  over 
this  system  of  railways  may  be  conceived  to  provide. 

The  establishment  of  Crewe  is  on  a  still  more  extensive 
scale,  being  erected  for  the  purposes  not  merely  of  maintenance 
and  repair,  but  for  the  manufacture  of  engines. 

The  town  of  Crewe  has  sprung  up  within  a  few  years  in 
connection  with  these  works,  and  now  contains  a  population  of 
about  8000,  of  whom  about  one  half  are  in  the  employment  of 
the  railway  company. 


110 


RAILWAY  ECONOMY. 


[CHAP.  VII. 


The  works  of  Crewe  are  erected  upon  a  vast  scale.  Here 
machinery  may  be  seen  of  every  description,  driven  by  steam- 
engines  of  great  power,  and  performing  all  the  operations  con- 
nected with  the  construction  of  the  ponderous  engines  which 
work  the  passenger  and  goods  traffic,  on  nearly  700  miles  of 
railway,  spread  over  the  country  between  Birmingham,  Liver- 
pool, Holyhead,  and  Carlisle  ;  for  the  Northwestern  Company 
not  only  provides  the  power  necessary  for  working  its  own 
lines,  but  also  works,  by  a  species  of  contract,  several  other 
adjacent  lines  of  railway. 

I  have  already  stated  that  the  stock  of  engines  in  actual 
operation  during  the  twelve  months  ending  the  30th  June, 
1849,  was  above  457,  besides  47  new  engines  in  store. 

In  the  workshops  at  Crewe  may  be  seen,  engines  in  every 
stage  of  progress,  from  the  unconnected  parts,  the  disjecta 
membra,  to  the  machine  in  combination  and  ready  for  starting 
on  the  road. 

There  is  sufficient  power  there  to  turn  out  a  complete  en- 
gine every  week,  making  an  annual  supply  amounting  to  about 
10  per  cent,  on  the  total  stock. 

The  following  statement  of  the  locomotive  stock  of  the  North- 
western Railway  on  the  1st  January,  1848,  when  it  was  less 
in  amount  than  at  the  epoch  above  mentioned,  is  given  by  Cap- 
tain Huish  in  his  report  to  the  directors,  dated  June,  1848 : 


STATEMENT  showing  Quantity  and  estimated  actual  Value  of  Articles 
included  in   Amount  charged  to   Capital  for   "Working  Stock"   of 
£1,462,901.—  January  1st,  1848. 

ENGINES. 

•w 

1 

£ 

1 

Value. 

Per  Engine 
Average. 

Total. 

JVo. 
71 
60 

8 

1 

JVo. 

109 
126 
25 

Mi 

180 
186 
33 

12 

15 

42G 

£.     s. 

1,499   10 
1,321     0 
1,400     0 

750     0 

£. 
269,900 
245,706 
46,200 

9,000 
6,775 

Manchester  and  Birmingham  
Engines  condemned  and  used  in 
pumping,  ballasting,  &c.—  South- 

Engines  sold,  less  amount  receiv- 
ed for  6—  deducted  from  Capital 
Account  to  Dec.  31st,  1847  

CHAP.  VII.]     REPRODUCTION  OF  ROLLING  STOCK. 


Ill 


1 

Val 

ue. 

ENGINES. 

- 

04 

1 

Per  Engine 
Average. 

Total. 

WORK   IN   PROGRESS. 

Locomotive  Department. 
Southern  Division  ..           .     

JVo. 

JVo. 

JVo. 

£. 

£. 

3,610 

Northern  Division  (Crewe) 

27,410  0 

Ditto             ^L.  &  M.)  

5;484  0 

£    32,894 

Ditto             (Stores) 

25,802 

TENDERS. 

JVo. 
187 

Price. 
250  0 

46,750 

178 

274  0 

48,772 

Manchester  and  Birmingham  

31 

300  0 

9,300 

IN    ENGINE   SHOPS. 

31,800 

23,687 

3,119 

Amount  advanced  to  Sharp,  Broth-  ^ 
ers,  on   account  of  undelivered  > 

-- 

-- 

,       5,000 

808,315 

A  second  department  of  this  vast  establishment  is  devoted  to 
the  supply  of  the  carrying-stock,  that  is  to  say,  of  the  passenger 
carriages  of  every  description — the  horse-boxes,  baggage-vans, 
parcel-vans,  brake-vans,  carriage-trucks,  post-offices,  and  mer- 
chandise wagons  of  every  class. 

When  it  is  considered  that  the  company  keep  in  active 
service  about  1100  passenger  coaches  and  above  6000  goods- 
wagons  of  various  kinds,  and  that,  besides  the  innumerable 
passenger  trains  which  run  upon  the  lines,  there  are  15  regular 
goods  trains  daily,  it  will  be  easily  conceived  how  vast  a  power 
of  supply  must  be  necessary  for  the  maintenance  of  the  rolling 
stock,  and  what  ample  employment  is  supplied  for  this  depart- 
ment of  the  Crewe  establishment,  where  there  are  always  from 
50  to  60  new  passenger  coaches  in  progress,  besides  numberless 
other  vehicles. 

Captain  Huish  has  given  the  following  statement  of  the  carry- 
ing stock  employed  upon  various  railways  in  England  and  Scot- 
land on  the  1st  of  January,  1848,  an  epoch  when  the  rolling 


112 


RAILWAY  ECONOMY. 


[CHAP.  VII. 


stock   of  the    Northwestern  was   considerably  less  in    extent 
than  at  the  present  time  : 


Line. 

i| 

it 

,  «* 
If 

11 

S| 

Total. 

Remarks. 

London  and  Northwestern  . 
Midland                    

JVo. 
4845 
3600 
1057 
890 
861 

1991 
917 
3000 

is  are 
bandise 

JV«. 
612 
300 
639 

>f  twic 
traffic 

JVo. 
653 
2500* 
529 

826 
9798 

3  the  c 
is  one 

JVo. 
97 

70 
30 
34 

apacity 
bird  of 

6,207 
6,400 
2,295 
922 
1,721 

'917 
3,000 

of  tbos 
theLo 

*  Can 

be  used 
for 
Goods 
also. 

e  on  the 
idon  and 

Great  Western  

York  and  North  Midland  ... 
York,  Newcastle,   and  Ber- 
wick   

Edinburgh  and  Glasgow  
Lancashire  and  Yorkshire.. 

The  Great  Western  wago 
narrow  gauge,  and  their  mere 
Northwestern  Company's. 

Before  the  fabrication  of  railway  vehicles  was  conducted  on 
the  present  extensive  scale,  the  cost  of  a  first-class  carriage 
was  66420,  and  that  of  a  second-class  carriage  c£300.  By  im- 
proved processes  consequent  upon  the  more  enlarged  scale  of 
the  manufacture,  these  vehicles  are  now  constructed  with 
greater  capacity  and  accommodation,  at  lower  prices.  A  first- 
class  carriage,  affording  amp!6  accommodations  for  18  passen- 
gers, is  now  constructed  for  d£380,  and  a  second-class  carriage, 
accommodating  25  passengers,  costs  d£260 ;  horse-boxes  about 
<£150,  and  other  passenger  vehicles,  varying  in  cost,  but  aver- 
aging about  d£100.  These  prices,  it  must  be  observed,  how- 
ever, are  the  actual  cost  incurred  by  the  company  fabricating 
for  themselves,  without  including  any  profit  to  the  manufacturer. 
They  are,  in  fact,  the  cost  prices. 

From  the  actual  quantity  of  carrying  stock  of  each  kind 
employed  in  working  certain  railways  of  which  the  total  amount 
of  the  traffic  is  known,  we  can  obtain  a  close  approximation  to 
the  quantity  employed  on  all  the  railways  of  the  United  King- 
dom. 

For  this  purpose  we  may,  as  in  like  computations  relative  to 
the  locomotive  power,  take  the  gross  receipts  as  a  fair  exponent 
of  the  amount  of  the  traffic. 

To  find  the  number  of  passenger  carriages  of  each  kind,  and 
of  other  vehicles  of  transport  used  on  the  railways,  let  us  then 


CHAP.  VII.]    REPRODUCTION  OF  ROLLING  STOCK.  113 

augment  the  stock  of  the  Northwestern  Company  in  the  ratio 
by  which  its  traffic  of  each  kind,  is  exceeded  by  the  total  traffic 
of  all  the  railways  of  the  kingdom  taken  collectively. 

We  find,  by  the  official  reports,  that  the  relative  amount  of 
the  receipts  for  the  half-year  ending  3lst  December,  1848,  waa 
as  follows : 


On  all  the  Rail- 
ways of  the  King- 
dom. 

On  the  Lines 
worked  by  the  North- 
western Company. 

Ratio. 

For  passengers,  1st  class  .. 
„                2d  class.. 
„                3d  class  .  . 
For  goods,  &c  

£. 
1,003,516 
1,360,468 
919,316 
2,461,663 

£. 

302,892 
273,434 
141,263 
603,228 

3-3 
5-0 
6-5 
4*0 

The  stock  of  the  Northwestern  Company  for  the  twelve 
months  ending  June  30th,  1849,  was  as  follows: 

Passenger  coaches,  1st  class 451 

„                2d  class 416 

„                3d  class 229 

Horse-boxes 246 

Carriage-trucks 228 

Goods- wagons 6395 

To  find,  therefore,  the  stock  necessary  to  work  the  railways 
generally  we  shall  multiply  the  stock  of  the  Northwestern 
Company  by  the  numbers  given  in  the  last  column.  Hence 
we  find : 


ESTIMATE  of  the  total  Carrying  Stock  used  for  working  the  Railway 
Traffic  of  the  United  Kingdom  in  1848-9. 

Numbers. 

Estimated 
Value. 

1,488 
2,080 
1,488 
820 
760 
24,944 
25,000 

£. 

665,440 
540,800 
223,200 
82,000 
66,880 
1,621,360 
875,000 

„                2d  class  

„                3d  class 

Carriage-trucks  T             _ 

Totals  

56,580, 

4,074,680 

1 14  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  VIT. 

Thus  the  carrying  stock  of  the  railways  of  the  kingdom  con- 
sists of  nearly  sixty  thousand  vehicles,  of  which  about  six 
thousand  are  passenger  coaches;  and  the  aggregate  value  of 
this  stock  is  four  million  sterling,  being  about  two  per  cent,  of 
the  entire  capital  expended. 

It  appears,  therefore,  that  the  chief  railway  companies  are 
not  merely  proprietors  of  railways  and  carriers  upon  them,  but 
they  are  also  engine-builders  and  carriage  and  wagon-builders 
upon  a  scale  of  almost  unparalleled  magnitude. 

By  such  means  the  rolling  stock,  in  the  widest  sense  of  the 
term,  is  kept  in  a  state  of  perfect  efficiency,  and  receives  from 
mouth  to  month,  and  from  year  to  year,  such  additions  as  the 
gradual  and  inevitable  increase  of  the  traffic  renders  necessary. 

As  has  been  already  observed,  a  question  has  lately  been 
agitated  as  to  the  necessity  of  establishing  an  annual  reserve 
fund  for  the  future  replacement  of  the  rolling  stock  at  a  future 
epoch,  when,  notwithstanding  the  current  annual  repairs,  and 
the  infusion  of  new  stock,  the  whole  stock  will  have  been  so 
worn  as  to  be  in  the  mass  unfit  for  future  use,  and  of  no  other 
value  than  old  materials. 

On  the  assumption  of  such  a  contingency,  several  of  the 
most  considerable  railway  companies  have  for  many  years  back 
put  aside  a  sum  calculated  upon  a  conjectural  estimate  for  this 
purpose.  It  was  only  recently  that  the  question  was  raised, 
whether  such  a  contingency  as  that  here  contemplated  is  really 
within  the  scope  of  possibility,  and  whether  the  rolling  stock 
was,  like  the  permanent  way,  subject  to  age  ?  Is  there  or  not 
a  gradual  and  insensible  deterioration  of  its  condition,  not  made 
good  either  by  annual  repairs,  or  by  the  gradual  infusion  of  new 
stock  rendered  necessary  by  circumstances?  A  practical  in- 
quiry has  been  accordingly  instituted  on  this  question,  and  it 
has  been  demonstrated  that  the  natural  progress  of  repairs  and 
renewals  in  the  movable  capital  of  railway  companies  is  such 
that  no  such  gradual  deterioration  exists,  and  that  at  no  future 
epoch  could  such  an  event  arrive  as  that  of  the  movable  stock 
being  reduced  to  such  a  state  of  deterioration  as  to  require  a 
complete  renewal.  In  the  course  of  time  the  stock  of  engines 
and  vehicles  is  continually  repaired.  New  wheels  are  put  on  at 
one  time,  and  a  new  body  at  another.  The  different  moving 
parts  most  subject  to  wear  are  gradually  1'enewed ;  and  the 
engines  and  vehicles  may  be  conceived  even  to  be  subject  to 
such  a  succession  of  repairs,  that  in  many  of  them  not  a  vestige 
of  the  original  materials  remains.  But,  independently  of  these 


CHAP.  VII.]     REPRODUCTION  OF  ROLLING  STOCK.  115 

repairs,  fresh  stock  is  added  from  year  to  year,  to  supply  the 
place  of  stock  which  has  become  unfit  for  use,  either  because 
of  its  insufficient  magnitude,  or  because  of  its  extreme  disrepair. 
Even  in  this  case,  however,  the  old  materials  of  coaches  or  en- 
gines are  more  or  less  worked  up  into  other  vehicles  or  engines, 
and  never  totally  disappear  from  the  road. 

The  movable  capital,  therefore,  may  be  considered  to  be  in  a 
state  of  continual  reproduction  ;  and  that  which,  in  the  case  of 
the  permanent  way,  must  take  place  altogether  at  a  future 
epoch,  when  the  entire  road  will  have  to  be  relaid,  takes  place 
in  the  rolling  stock  gradually  from  year  to  year.  Its  existence 
is  perennial,  and  it  is  in  a  constant  state  of  rejuvenescence. 

This  point  having  been  conclusively  established,  the  companies 
very  properly  discontinued  to  set  aside  from  revenue  any  fund 
for  the  future  reproduction  of  stock;  but  they  would  have  been 
justified,  in  strict  equity,  in  going  further,  and  in  taking  back 
from  the  capital,  and  placing  to  the  credit  of  revenue,  all  the 
sums  which,  in  previous  years,  they  had  erroneously  brought 
to  the  credit  of  capital,  to  represent  a  deterioration  which  did 
not  exist,  and  to  pay  for  a  future  want  which  can  never  arise. 

Connected  intimately  with  this  circumstance  was  the  whole 
question  between  revenue  and  capital,  which  has  of  late  been 
the  subject  of  so  much  discussion. 

If  a  railway  company  had  the  permanent  character  of  a  com- 
mercial firm,  the  interchange  of  value  between  revenue  and 
capital  would  be  a  matter  of  less  importance,  being  a  subject 
altogether  discretionary  with  the  proprietary.  But  a  railway 
company  is  a  fluctuating  body,  consisting  of  a  variety  of  parties, 
having  various,  and,  in  some  respects,  opposite  interests,  and, 
nevertheless,  having  each  claims  and  rights  entitled  to  respect 
and  consideration  on  the  part  of  those  to  whom  the  management 
of  the  affairs  of  the  company  is  delegated. 

A  part  of  the  proprietary  consists  of  persons  who  have  select- 
ed the  railway  as  a  means  of  permanent  investment.  These 
regard  the  steadiness,  uniformity,  and  permanence  of  dividends 
with  quite  as  much  solicitude  as  their  amount.  To  them  these 
dividends  form  a  permanent  current  income,  on  the  periodical 
return  of  which  they  lay  their  account. 

Another  class  use  the  railway  as  a  temporary  investment, 
and  no  inconsiderable  portion  of  them  resort  to  it  as  a  means  of 
commercial  speculation,  purchasing  the  shares,  not  with  a  view 
to  the  enjoyment  of  dividends,  but  with  the  prospect  of  their 
re-sale  at  advantageous  prices.  With  these  the  railway  shares 


116  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  VII. 

are  objects  of  commercial  speculation,  of  purchase  and  sale,  as 
any  other  object  in  the  market  might  be,  being  bought  at  a  lower 
and  sold  at  a  higher  price,  and  becoming  thereby  an  ordinary 
source  of  commercial  profit.  Whatever  may  be  thought  of  this 
traffic,  it  is  an  inevitable  consequence  of  the  facility  with  which 
railway  stock  may  be  transferred  from  hand  to  hand  ;  and  that 
quality  having  been  conferred  upon  it  by  its  creators,  the  con- 
sequences can  not  be  rejected. 

The  rights,  therefore,  even  of  speculators  in  railway  stock, 
not  to  mention  those  who  in  good  faith  use  it  as  a  temporary 
investment,  or  a  sort  of  savings-bank,  are  entitled  to  respect  and 
consideration. 

Now  the  class  of  proprietors  first  mentioned  have  less  regard 
to  the  amount  of  present  dividends  than  to  the  permanent  value 
of  the  stock,  and  they  chiefly  expect  from  the  directors  of  the 
railway  a  due  regard  to  the  efficient  maintenance  of  the  perma- 
nent way  and  the  movable  stock  out  of  revenue,  before  any  sur- 
plus be  appropriated  to  dividend.  On  the  other  hand,  the  latter 
class,  and  especially  the  speculators,  care  nothing  for  the  per- 
manent value  of  the  concern,  and  look  only  to  the  present 
amount  of  dividend.  Between  these  two  classes  of  proprietors 
the  directors  are  called  on  to  do  equal  justice. 

To  augment  revenue  out  of  capital  would  be  beneficial  to  the 
latter  class  at  the  expense  of  the  former  ;  and  to  augment  capi- 
tal out  of  revenue  would  be  beneficial  to  the  former  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  latter.  Both  proceedings  would  be  equally  unjust, 
and  ought  to  be  avoided. 

The  public  has  of  late  been  excited  in  an  extraordinary  degree 
on  this  question  by  certain  reported  malpractices  in  railway 
management,  by  which  the  value  of  shares  has  been  raised  to  a 
spurious  price  in  the  market  by  unacknowledged  drafts  of  rev- 
enue on  capital,  and,  as  usual  when  public  excitement  operates, 
a  clamor  has  been  raised  which  would  hurry  railway  directors 
into  the  other  extreme.  They  have  been  even  urged  on  all 
hands  to  close  the  capital  account  with  all  practicable  expedition  ; 
a  measure  which,  it  is  easy  to  demonstrate,  would  be  utterly 
impracticable,  unless  it  were  deliberately  intended  in  future  to 
feed  capital  at  the  expense  of  revenue. 

It  is  manifest  that  the  total  cost  of  the  permanent  way,  the 
stations,  workshops,  the  furniture,  tools,  and  machinery,  and  the 
entire  amount  of  rolling  stock,  must  be  charged  to  capital.  Now, 
BO  long  as  trade  is  progressive,  so  long  will  the  traffic  on  railways 
be  in  a  state  of  gradual  increase.  It  consequently  follows  that 


CHAP.  VII.]    REPRODUCTION  OF  ROLLING  STOCK.  117 

a  corresponding  increase  must  annually  be  made  in  the  movable 
stock  necessary  to  work  this  traffic. 

To  charge  such  annual  increase  upon  revenue  would  be  to 
debit  revenue  with  capital,  or,  what  is  the  same,  to  make  unac- 
knowledged drafts  on  revenue  in  favor  of  capital.  Such  a  pro- 
ceeding would  be  unjust  to  the  temporary  shareholder. 

But  the  impossibility  of  closing  the  capital  account  does  not 
arise  solely  from  the  continual  necessity  of  augmenting  the 
movable  stock.  To  the  most  superficial  observer  it  must  be 
evident  that  other  exigencies  upon  capital  will  continually  arise. 

The  extension  of  traffic  renders  necessary  the  augmentation 
of  workshops,  the  increase  of  warehouses  and  stations,  the  con- 
struction of  new  wharves  and  sidings,  and,  in  fine,  the  addition 
of  short  branches,  on  the  one  side,  and  on  the  other,  of  the 
main  line.  These  demands  on  capital  are  not  such  as  will  recur 
at  distant  intervals,  and  in  such  a  manner  as  to  be  met  by  ex- 
traordinary measures.  They  are  of  constant  recurrence;  and 
it  must  be  expected,  in  every  half-yearly  account  of  the  exten- 
sive companies,  that  an  addition,  more  or  less,  will  appear  to 
the  capital. 

In  the  conflict  that  has  arisen  between  those  who,  on  the  one 
hand,  are  interested  in  the  maintenance  of  capital,  and,  on  the 
other,  in  securing  present  large  dividends,  a  question  has  arisen 
as  to  the  expediency  of  taking  an  annual  valuation  of  stock,  and 
charging  the  revenue  with  a  sum  representing  its  depreciation. 
The  propriety  of  such  a  measure  may  be  tested  by  examining 
its  consequences. 

The  value  of  the  property  which  a  railway  company  possesses 
and  uses  depends  jointly  upon  the  condition  of  efficiency  in  which 
it  is  maintained,  and  on  the  market  value  of  the  objects  which 
compose  it.  Now,  it  is  evident  that  the  duty  of  the  existing 
proprietors  is  to  maintain  the  entire  property,  fix.ed  and  mov- 
able, of  the  company  in  a  state  of  perfect  efficiency,  its  quantity 
and  quality  being  equal  to  what  they  were  when  the  railway 
commenced  its  operations.  If  time  has  deteriorated  some  por- 
tion, new  portions  have  been  infused:  so  that,  on  the  whole, 
the  value  in  use  remains  the  same.  What  depreciation,  it  may 
be  asked,  is  the  existing  company  called  upon  to  make  good 
from  year  to  year? 

The  answer  to  this  must  be  the  marketable  depreciation  ;  that 
is  to  say,  the  fall  in  price  produced,  not  by  any  deterioration  of 
real  value  in  the  stock,  but  by  other  causes  foreign  to  the  busi- 
ness of  the  company  acting  on  the  market. 


118  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  VII. 

Now  let  us  consider  the  consequences  of  the  admission  of 
such  a  principle. 

The  fluctuation  of  the  marketable  value  of  various  classes  of 
objects  constituting  the  property  of  a  railway  company  is  very 
considerable.  The  rolling  stock,  for  example,  owing  to  improve- 
ments which  have  taken  place  in  its  manufacture,  has  undergone 
a  considerable  fall  in  price.  Thus,  a  first-class  carriage,  which 
in  1837  cost  ,£420,  in  1847  could  be  obtained  for  ^380.  But 
besides  this  fall  in  price,  the  capacity  and  value  for  use  of  the 
first-class  coach  obtained  in  1847  for  c£380  was  much  greater 
than  that  for  which  d£420  was  paid  in  1837.  In  short,  price 
and  value  taken  together,  the  carriage  of  1847  was  more  than 
25  per  cent,  cheaper  than  the  carriage  of  1837.  The  same 
observation  would  be  applicable  to  all  other  classes  of  vehicle. 

It  appears,  then,  that,  in  the  course  of  ten  years,  a  rolling 
stock  could  be  obtained  for  d£30,000  which  would  previously 
have  cost  c£40,000.  The  rolling  stock,  therefore,  in  this  inter- 
val, underwent  a  depreciation  of  £25  per  cent,  in  marketable 
value,  while  it  suffered  no  depreciation  whatever  in  real  value. 
Nevertheless,  if  the  principle  of  annual  valuation  and  making 
good  depreciation  out  of  revenue  be  admitted,  the  existing 
proprietors  could  be  called  upon  to  pay  out  of  revenue  this  dif- 
ference of  price. 

But,  if  the  principle  be  good  in  one  way,  it  can  not  be  bad  in 
another;  and  those  who  maintain  that  revenue  must  make  up  to 
capital  for  the  diminution  of  marketable  value  in  the  property 
of  the  railway,  can  not  deny  that  capital  should,  on  the  other 
hand,  supply  to  revenue  the  augmentation  which  such  value 
may  receive  from  like  fluctuation  in  the  market.  Now,  since 
the  establishment  of  railways,  the  price  of  iron  rails  has  been 
subject  to  great  fluctuations.  At  one  time  they  were  as  low  as 
<£5  a  ton,  and  at  another  epoch  as  high  as  d£15  a  ton.  Let  us 
suppose  this  fluctuation,  as  might  easily  have  happened,  to  take 
place  in  two  successive  years.  On  valuing  the  rails  in  one  year 
they  would  be  estimated  at<£10  a  ton  more  than  their  value  the 
preceding  year.  Now,  as  in  a  double  line  of  railway  laid  with 
rails  of  751bs.  per  yard  there  are  235  tons  of  rails  per  mile,  the 
existing  shareholders  would  be  entitled,  in  case  of  a  rise  in  the 
price  of  the  rails  of  c£10  per  ton  within  the  year,  to  take  from 
capital,  in  favor  of  revenue  in  this  case,  a  credit  amounting  to 
<£2350  per  mile  of  the  entire  length  of  the  double  line.  If  the 
principle  of  depreciation  and  annual  Valuation  be  adopted  at  all, 
this  consequence  of  it  can  not  be  rejected. 


CHAP.  VIII.]  THE  STATIONS.  119 

But,  in  truth,  such  a  principle  can  not  be  maintained.  If  an 
annual  valuation  or  survey  of  stock  be  made,  it  must  be  upon 
the  principle  of  estimating  it  by  its  quantity  and  efficiency  only, 
and  not  by  its  marketable  value,  which  is  determined  by  causes 
over  which  the  company  has  no  control,  and  quite  independent 
of  the  use  or  abuse  of  their  property.* 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE    STATIONS. 

THE  ultimate  object  of  the  railway  business  being  the  transfer 
from  place  to  place  of  persons  and  goods,  and  the  phenomena 
attending  this  operation  having  been  peculiarly  imposing  and 
unexpected,  it  has,  not  unnaturally,  so  engrossed  public  atten- 
tion, that  very  large  and  important  branches  of  the  service  are 
almost  wholly  left  out  of  view. 

Nevertheless,  the  mere  operation  of  change  of  place  or  trans- 
port, properly  so  called,  constitutes  in  reality  only  a  part  of  the 
great  business  of  this  branch  of  commerce. 

To  secure  the  safety  and  promptitude  of  dispatch  and  delivery, 
many  operations  are  necessary,  and  numerous  agents  of  a  highly 
responsible  character  are  employed,  both  before  the  actual  busi- 
ness of  transport  begins  and  after  it  has  been  completed.  Even 
while  the  process  of  locomotion  is  in  progress  there  are  a  variety 
of  measures  necessary,  not  immediately  connected  with  trans- 
port itself,  for  the  attainment  of  the  ultimate  object  of  the  trav- 
eler or  the  expediter. 

The  great  theatres  of  these  operations,  preliminary  and  sub- 
sequent to  the  transport,  as  well  as  at  certain  epochs  in  its 
progress,  are  the  STATIONS. 

It  ia  impossible  to  regard  the  vast  buildings  and  their  depend- 
encies, which  constitute  a  chief  terminal  station  of  a  great  line 
of  railway,  without  feelings  of  inexpressible  astonishment  at  the 

*  These  questions  have  been  discussed  with  much  ability  by  Cap- 
tain Huish,  manager  of  the  Northwestern  Railway,  in  two  reports 
addressed  to  the  directors  of  that  company,  on  the  renewal  of  the  per- 
manent way  and  stock.  I  have  been  indebted  to  these  reports  for 
much  valuable  information  relating  to  the  condition  of  the  lines  and 
the  stock. 


120  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [OHAP.  VIII. 

magnitude  of  the  capital  and  the  boldness  of  the  enterprise, 
which  are  manifested  in  the  operations  of  which  they  are  the 
stage. 

Nothing  in  the  history  of  the  past  affords  any  parallel  to  such 
a  spectacle. 

Such  an  establishment  maybe  regarded  as  consisting  primarily 
of  four  distinct  departments  : 

1st.  The  passenger  station,  appropriated  to  the  embarkment 
and  disembarkment  of  the  passengers,  and  other  objects  of  traffic 
which  are  carried  by  the  same  trains. 

2d.  The  goods  station,  which  is  appropriated  to  the  reception 
and  embarkment,  and  the  disembarkment  and  discharge,  of  all 
descriptions  of  goods  and  live  stock  transmitted  by  railway. 

3d.  The  depot  for  the  locomotive  power,  where  the  engines 
repose,  are  cleaned,  examined,  and  repaired,  and  from  which 
they  issue  prepared  for  the  traction  of  the  trains. 

4th.  The  carriage  depot,  appropriated  to  the  cleaning,  main- 
tenance, and  repairs  of  the  carrying  stock,  consisting  of  passen- 
ger-carriages of  the  various  classes,  carriage-trucks,  and  horse- 
boxes, baggage  and  parcel-vans,  goods-wagons  of  various  forms, 
cattle-trucks  and  brake-vans. 

The  stations  for  passengers  and  goods  are  generally  in  differ-  - 
ent  and  sometimes  in  distant  positions,  the  place  selected  for 
each  being  that  which  is  most  convenient  for  the  approach  of 
the  traffic  to  which  they  are  respectively  appropriated.  Often, 
at  a  point  short  of  the  terminus,  the  line  forks  into  two  branches, 
one  leading  to  the  passenger,  the  other  to  the  goods  station. 

The  former  is  established  at  a  place  as  near  as  can  conveniently 
be  obtained  to  the  centre  of  the  population  which  constitutes  the 
passenger  traffic ;  the  other  is  established  in  the  position  found 
most  convenient  for  the  arrival  of  the  goods  traffic.  Thus  at 
Liverpool  the  branch  leading  to  the  passenger  depdt  enters  the 
town  by  a  tunnel  carried  beneath  the  streeta,  and  terminates 
at  a  point  not  far  from  the  centre  of  population.  The  branch 
leading  to  the  goods  station,  likewise  conducted  through  a  tunnel 
under  the  town,  is  carried  to  the  docks  and  quays,  where  the 
goods  are  received  directly  from  the  shipping  upon  the  rails, 
and  reciprocally  delivered  from  the  rails  to  the  shipping. 

To  avoid  the  necessity  of  taking  locomotive  engines  into  the 
town  under  such  circumstances,  and  sometimes  because  the 
lines  are  conducted  to  the  terminus  by  inclined  planes,  these 
terminal  branches  of  the  railways  are  sometimes  worked  by 
stationary  engines  and  ropes.  By  means  of  these  the  trains  of 


CHAP.  VIII.]  THE  STATIONS.  121 

passengers  or  goods,  as  the  case  may  be,  are  drawn  from  their 
respective  stations  to  the  point  where  the  terminal  branches 
intersect,  and  where  they  are  delivered  over  to  the  locomotive 
engine. 

Thus,  from  the  Euston-square  passenger  station  of  the  North- 
western Railway,  the  passenger  trains  were  originally  drawn 
by  stationary  engines  up  an  incline,  by  which  they  were  taken 
to  the  goods  station  at  Camden  Town,  where  they  were  deliv- 
ered over  to  the  locomotive.  This  was  afterward  done  by  the 
locomotive  engines.  At  Liverpool  two  stationary  engines  are 
appropriated  to  the  goods  and  passenger  trains;  one  draws  the 
passenger  trains  from  the  Lime-street  station  through  the  tun- 
nel to  the  point  of  junction  ;  the  other  draws  the  goods  trains 
from  the  goods  station  at  the  docks  to  the  same  point. 


THE    PASSENGER    STATION. 

The  passenger  station  consists  of  two  departments,  which 
are  separated  from  each  other  by  the  lines  of  railway  and  the 
numerous  trains  of  carriages  which  always  occupy  them,  so  that, 
except  to  the  privileged  agents  of  the  railway,  these  departments 
are  inaccessible  to  each  other. 

They  consist  of  separate  buildings,  are  supplied  with  separate 
approaches,  and  often  lead  into  different  lines  of  streets. 

These  two  departments  are  appropriated,  the  one  to  the 
passengers  about  to  depart  upon  the  railway,  and  the  other  to 
the  passengers'  who  have  arrived. 

To  facilitate  the  service  of  the  station,  the  companies  enter 
into  arrangement  with  various  public  vehicles,  which  start  from 
various  quarters  of  the  capital  at  such  hours  that  they  shall 
arrive  at  the  railway  station  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour  before 
the  trains  leave. 

Aa  the  hour  of  departure  approaches,  lines  of  these  carriages 
will  be  seen  rapidly  converging  toward  the  entrances  of  the 
station  of  departure.  As  they  arrive,  they  find  agents  of  the 
railway,  distinguished  by  their  uniform,  ready  to  aid  the  traveler. 
The  moment  the  vehicle  arrives,  these  agents  assist  him  to 
dismount,  and  immediately  take  charge  of  his  luggage.  They 
supply  him  with  the  local  information  which  may  be  necessary, 
such  as  the  proper  fare  for  his  carriage,  if  he  arrive  in  a  hired 
vehicle.  This  service  is  important  not  only  for  the  convenience 
of  the  traveler,  but  for  the  expedition  of  the  railway  business. 
A  large  number  of  vehicles  must  arrive,  deliver  their  fare,  and 
F 


122  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  VIII. 

depart  within  a  very  brief  space  of  time,  and  such  a  process 
could  not  be  completed  without  all  the  aid  which  the  well- 
organized  service  of  the  railways  can  supply.  The  passenger, 
dismounted,  finds  that  his  luggage  has  disappeared,  an  agent  of 
the  railway  having  taken  charge  of  it.  He  enters  the  station, 
and  proceeding  directly  to  the  booking-office,  where  he  pays  his 
fare,  receives  a  ticket,  which  bears  marks  indicating  the  train 
by  which  he  is  about  to  start,  the  hour  of  his  departure,  the 
class  of  carriage  in  which  he  is  entitled  to  travel,  and  the  place 
of  his  destination.  Entering  the  building,  he  is  conducted  to  a 
waiting-room,  several  of  which  are  prepared,  furnished,  warmed, 
and  lighted,  and  appropriated  to  the  different  classes  of  passen- 
gers. Here  he  finds,  if  he  have  a  few  minutes  to  wait,  innu- 
merable conveniences,  such  as  guide-books,  journals,  and  period- 
ical publications,  of  the  kind  most  in  demand  by  travelers,  offered 
for  sale. 

On  passing  to  the  platform,  he  finds  his  luggage  deposited 
there  on  a  barrow,  in  charge  of  a  railway  agent.  He  proceeds 
to  the  baggage-office,  where  it  is  weighed,  labeled,  and  booked, 
and  where  he  pays  for  excess  of  weight,  if  any  such  there  be. 
His  baggage  is  then  put  in  charge  of  a  loading- porter,  who 
wheels  it  to  the  baggage-van,  unless  it  be  so  small  in  bulk  and 
weight  that  the  passenger  can  take  it  in  or  upon  the  carriage  in 
which  he  travels. 

It  is  customary  on  the  English  roads  to  allow  passengers  a 
certain  amount  of  luggage  without  additional  charge,  that  amount 
being,  in  fact,  included  in  their  fare.  The  quantity  allowed  to 
first-class  passengers  is  about  1  cwt. ;  to  second-class  passengers 
generally  3  cwt.;  and  to  third-class  passengers  £  cwt.  The 
charge  for  additional  weight  varies  on  different  railways.  In 
some  it  is  at  the  rate  of  %d.  per  lb.,  independent  of  distance ;  in 
others  it  is  at  the  rate  of  \d.  for  every  80  miles  traveled. 

On  the  continental  railways  the  quantity  of  luggage  allowed 
to  be  taken  without  charge  by  passengers -is  incomparably  less; 
but,  on  the  other  hand,  the  personal  fares  charged  to  passengers 
are  also  less.  On  some  railways  on  the  Continent  no  luggage  is 
allowed  to  go  free,  unless  it  be  small  parcels  which  the  passen-- 
ger  takes  in  his  hand. 

The  question  of  free  luggage  is  one  in  the  equitable  arrange- 
ment of  which  the  passenger  is  as  much  interested  as  the  rail- 
way company;  and  it  may  fairly  be  questioned  whether  the 
rigorous  rules  observed  by  some  of  the  continental  railways, 
under  which  all  luggage  whatever  must  be  regularly  weighed, 


CHAP.  VIII.]  THE  STATIONS.  123 

booked,  paid  for,  and  placed  in  chai-ge  of  the  railway  agents,  is 
not,  after  all,  most  convenient,  most  economical,  and  most  ad- 
vantageous to  the  traveler. 

If  an  amount  of  luggage  so  considerable  as  that  allowed  to 
railway  passengers  in  England  be  included  in  their  personal 
fare,  it  follows  that  the  portion  of  the  passengers  who  take  no 
luggage  pay  for  the  transport  of  the  luggage  of  the  remainder  ; 
for  it  is  clear  that  the  railway  company  carries  nothing  gratu- 
itously, and  in  fixing  its  tariff  of  fares,  it  assumes  that  each 
passenger  will  take  a  certain  average  amount  of  luggage. 

The  passenger  who  has  no  luggage  is  generally  of  the  class 
who  can  least  afford  extra  expense,  and  the  injustice  of  exacting 
from  him,  in  the  amount  of  his  fare,  the  price  of  the  transport 
of  the  luggage  of  the  wealthier  passenger  is  the  more  unjust 
and  oppressive. 

But  there  is  another  inconvenience  attending  the  gratuitous 
transport  of  luggage.  The  railway  company  is  responsible  only 
for  such  articles  of  transport  as  are  regularly  weighed,  booked, 
put  upon  the  way-bill,  and  paid  for.  Gratuitously  transported 
luggage  involves,  therefore,  no  responsibility  on  the  part  of  the 
company.  It  is  presumed  to  be  in  charge  of  its  owner.  Hence 
arise  endless  disputes  respecting  lost  luggage. 

An  important  branch  of  the  traffic  transported  by  passenger 
trains  is  that  which  in  England  is  called  Parcels,  and  on  the 
Continent,  "  Articles  de  Messagerie." 

Booking  and  reception  offices  for  such  articles  are  established 
at  various  places  in  the  capitals  and  the  large  towns  with  which 
the  lines  of  railway  communicate. 

The  parcels  thus  sent  are  transmitted  to  the  railway  station 
at  a  specified  time  before  the  starting  of  the  trains. 

A  distinct  department  is  assigned  to  this  business  at  the  chief 
stations,  supplied  with  a  proper  staff  of  agents,  consisting  of 
superintendents,  book-keepers,  weighing  and  loading  porters, 
conductors,  &c. 

This  parcel  office,  like  the  passenger  station  itself,  is  sub- 
divided into  two  bureaux,  one  appropriated  to  the  business  of 
delivery,  and  the  other  of  reception  ;  or  one  to  the  parcels  which 
arrive,  and  which  are  to  be  distributed  and  delivered,  and  the 
other  to  the  parcels  which  are  jeceived  and  which  are  to  be 
forwarded.  These  two  offices,  which  are  constructed  on  a  scale 
proportionate  to  the  importance  of  the  station,  and  the  extent 
of  the  traffic,  are  usually  separated  by  the  bureau  of  the  super- 
intendent. 


124  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [QHAP.  VIII. 

On  the  delivery  of  a  parcel,  if  its  carriage  is  prepaid,  it  is 
first  handed  over  to  a  weighing  porter,  who  throws  it  into  an 
index  weighing  machine,  and  calls  out  its  weight  to  the  booking 
clerk  ;  the  latter  enters  it  with  its  destination  and  cost  of  trans- 
port. 

Meanwhile  the  parcel  is  handed  to  another  porter,  who  re- 
ceives from  a  clerk  a  label  indicating  the  price  paid  for  the 
transport,  the  place  of  its  departure,  and  the  place  of  its  desti- 
nation, and  in  some  cases  the  hour  of  departure.  Another  clerk 
prepares  a  receipt,  and  delivers  it  to  the  party  depositing  the 
parcel,  receiving  the  amount  of  the  transport.  The  porter  who 
labels  the  parcel  hands  it  over  to  the  loading  porter,  who  takes 
it  in  a  barrow,  with  a  mass  of  others  which  have  been  similarly 
dealt  with,  and  rolls  it  to  the  parcel-van. 

There  an  immense  heap  of  these  parcels  is  sorted,  according 
to  their  places  of  destination,  and  delivered  succesively  to  the 
conductor  of  the  parcel  vans,  who  disposes  them  in  different 
compartments,  according  to  the  places  to  which  they  are  ad- 
dressed, in  such  a  manner  that  he  may  be  able,  as  the  train 
passes  along  the  road,  and  arrives  at  the  successive  stations,  to 
deliver  in  a  mass,  and  without  delay,  the  parcels  corresponding 
to  each  station. 

To  expedite  the  business  of  labeling,  printed  labels  are  pre- 
pared, completely  filled  up  for  all  parcels  which  are  what  is  called 
light,  that  is  to  say,  under  12lbs.  weight,  all  such  being  charged 
at  one  uniform  rate.  The  weighing  porter  calls  out,  in  passing 
the  parcels  respectively  to  the  booking  clerk,  "  light"  for  such 
parcels,  and  the  printed  label  is  immediately  attached  to  them. 
But  when  parcels  are  overweight  and  subject  to  a  different 
charge,  he  calls  out  their  weight,  and  the  corresponding  rate 
of  charge  is  written  into  the  label  by  the  clerk,  and  is  attached 
to  the  parcel. 

In  the  experience  of  railways,  it  is  found  that  an  immense 
majority  of  the  parcels  thus  expedited  are  light ;  parcels  of  the 
heavier  description  are  generally  such  as  do  not  require  very 
pressing  expedition,  and  are  accordingly  sent  by  the  goods  trains. 

The  rate  charged  for  the  transport  of  parcels  varies  more  or 
less  on  different  railways,  and  still  more  in  different  countries. 
In  England  the  charge  for  light  parcels  is  sometimes  as  low  as 
6cZ.,  and  this  includes  delivery  at  the  domicile  of  the  party  to 
whom  it  is  addressed. 

For  a  distance  of  about  100  miles,  as,  for  instance,  between 
Birmingham  and  London,  the  charge  is  Is.,  including  delivery 


CHAP.  VIII.]  THE  STATIONS.  125 

at  any  part  of  Birmingham,  and  delivery  in  London  within  a 
radius -of  3  miles  round  the  General  Post  Office.  The  charge 
for  such  parcels  increases  with  the  distance,  in  the  proportion 
of  about  Is.  for  every  additional  100  miles.  Thus  the  charge 
between  London  and  Edinburgh  or  Glasgow  is  4s. 

The  establishment,  however,  of  the  uniform  penny  postage 
has  greatly  diminished  this  branch  of  parcel  traffic,  compared 
with  what  it  would  have  been  but  for  this  system  of  postage  re- 
form. Thus  it  is  clear  that  no  parcel  would  be  sent  by  railway 
between  London  and  Edinburgh  weighing  less  than  25 oz.,  inas- 
much as  the  postage  of  such  a  parcel  sent  through  the  post- 
office  would  not  exceed  the  railway  tariff.  Indeed,  this  limit 
might  be  fairly  stated  at  a  higher  amount,  because  the  expediter 
can  deposit  his  parcel  in  any  receiving-house ;  whereas  for  the 
railway  he  is  very  limited  in  the  places  of  delivery,  and  forced 
to  observe  more  troublesome  formalities,  especially  if  the  parcel 
be  prepaid. 

The  business  of  the  parcel  department  is  subject,  as  may  be 
expected,  to  great  variation  at  different  limes. 

Thus  at  seasons  like  Christmas  it  has  an  enormous  momentary 
increase  in  both  directions,  so  that  a  corps  of  supernumeraries 
is  obliged  to  be  employed  at  the  chief  stations.  The  average 
daily  amount  of  parcels  transmitted  through  some  of  the  Lon- 
don stations  is  nevertheless  surprising.  Thus  it  is  estimated 
that  more  than  2000  parcels  per  day  are  booked  at  the  station 
of  the  Northwestern  Railway. 

On  the  Belgian  railways,  in  1847,  the  number  of  parcels 
booked,  weighing  less  than  12lbs.,  was  at  the  average  rate  of 
750  per  day,  and  the  gross  weight  of  the  parcels  booked  which 
were  above  that  weight  was  at  the  average  rate  of  120  tons  per 
day.  This,  however,  includes  the  parcels  booked  at  all  the  sta- 
tions for  347  miles  of  railway. 

On  the  Paris  and  Orleans  Railway  the  average  weight  of 
parcels  carried  per  train,  during  the  year  ending  30th  June, 
1847,  was  |  of  a  ton  ;  and,  as  there  were  8  trains  per  day,  the 
total  weight  of  parcels  booked  per  day  was  6  tons.  In  this  esti- 
mate are  not  included  the  parcels  brought  by  passengers  as 
part  of  their  luggage,  and  which  were  also  booked  and  paid  for. 

The  accuracy  with  which  this  part  of  the  business  of  trans- 
port is  executed  may  be  estimated  from  the  fact  that  not  above 
one  parcel  in  400,000  is  lost.* 

*  As  an  example  of  the  enormous  amount  of  business  of  this  de- 
scription occasionally  transacted  at  chief  stations,  it  is  stated  that,  in 


126  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  VIII. 

The  other  objects  which  compose  the  traffic  of  a  passenger 
station  are  horses  and  private  carriages.  These  are  embarked 
at  wharves  especially  provided  for  their  reception  at  the  sta- 
tion ;  and  arrangements  are  made  so  that  they  can  be  always 
loaded,  provided  they  arrive  at  the  station  10  or  15  minutes  be- 
fore the  hour  of  starting  the  train.  Horses  travel  in  a  vehicle 
called  a  horse-box,  which  is  a  sort  of  locomotive  stable,  consist- 
ing of  two  or  three  stalls,  so  placed  that  the  animal  in  traveling 
stands  sideways.  Private  carriages  are  mounted  on  flat  wagons 
called  carriage-trucks,  on  which  they  are  secured  by  wedges, 
and  properly  tied. 

The  owners  of  private  carriages  have  the  option  either  of 
traveling  in  them  or  in  the  railway  carriages.  The  latter  is  al- 
ways the  most  desirable  course,  with  a  view  to  safety,  as  will  be 
explained  when  we  come  to  consider  the  causes  of  accidents  on 
railways,  and  the  rules  to  be  'observed  as  conducive  to  the  safety 
of  the  traveler. 

The  railway  porters  and  agents  charged  with  the  formation 
of  the  trains  arrange  the  carriages  composing  each  successive 
train,  placing  usually  in  front  the  baggage-vans,  horse-boxes  and 
carriages  of  the  inferior  classes;  the  first-class  carriages  being 
generally  placed  in  or  near  the  centre  of  the  train,  which  is 
considered  the  preferable  position  as  respects  safety.  This 
will  be  also  explained  when  we  come  to  treat  of  railway  ac- 
cidents. 

The  carriages  which  form  the  train  are  screwed  together  so 
as  to  form  a  solid  and  compact  column,  and  so  that,  upon  any 
change  of  speed,  either  in  slackening  or  accelerating,  there 
should  be  no  collision  between  vehicle  and  vehicle,  as  necessa- 
rily would  be  the  case  with  any  flexible  connexion,  such  as  a 
chain.  But  in  order  to  prevent  the  shock  which  would  neces- 
sarily be  produced  by  change  of  speed  in  a  moving  mass  so  pon- 
derous, the  carriages  are  provided  with  an  elastic  apparatus  called 
buffers,  which  have  cushions  placed  at  their  points  of  junction, 
and  are  pressed  by  the  force  of  the  screw  that  unites  the  car- 
riages face  to  face.  These  cushions  are  attached  to  strong  cyl- 
indrical rods  of  iron,  which  press  against  springs  having  suffi- 
cient elasticity  and  strength  to  yield  without  breaking,  and  to 

Christmas  week,  as  many  as  5000  barrels  of  oysters  have  been  sent  as 
parcels  from  the  Euston-square  station  of  the  Northwestern  Railway- 
within  24  hours,  each  barrel  containing  100  oysters.  The  riumber  of 
these  fish,  therefore,  expedited  from  this  station  alone  to  the  interior, 
within  the  day,  was  half  a  million. 


CHAP.  VIII.]  THE  STATIONS.  127 

receive  and  moderate  the  momentum  arising  from  change  of 
speed. 

These  couplings  and  other  arrangements  are  strictly  attended 
to  by  the  agents  of  the  station,  Whose  business  it  is  to  form  the 
trains  at  starting. 

The  wharf  or  platform  from  which  the  passengers  take  their 
departure  is  elevated  above  the  rails  of  the  station  to  such  a  level 
as  to  be  flush  with  the  floors  of  the  carriages,  so  that  the  passen- 
gers step  into  the  carriages  with  the  same  facility  as  they  would 
pass  from  one  room  to  another. 

In  cases  where  the  trains  are  drawn  from  the  passenger  sta- 
tion by  a  fixed  engine,  as  already  explained,  this  engine  is  usu- 
ally erected,  not  at  the  passenger  station,  which  would  be  an  in- 
convenient and  objectionable  position,  but  at  the  most  remote 
point  to  .which  the  train  has  to  be  drawn,  so  that  the  engine 
draws  the  train  toward  it  from  the  station.  Thus,  at  the  Lon- 
don station  of  the  Northwestern  Railway,  the  passenger  sta- 
tion is  at  Euston-square,  and  the  fixed  engine  was  formerly 
erected  at  Camden  Town  ;  and  on  the  Liverpool  Railway  the 
fixed  engine  is  at  the  top  of  the  tunnel,  the  passenger  station 
being  at  Lime-street.  In  such  cases,  when  the  train  is  ready 
to  start,  a  communication  by  signal  is  made  from  the  passenger 
station  to  the  fixed  engine,  so  that- the  latter  is  brought  into 
operation  when  required.  The  mode  of  giving  this  signal  varies 
in  different  places.  It  has  in  some  cases  been  done  by  a  tube 
containing  compressed  air,  which,  being  suddenly  opened,  a 
whistle  is  sounded  by  the  air  rushing  out  of  the  tube ;  but  it  is 
probable,  henceforward,  that  the  agent  used  for  this  purpose 
will  be  the  wires  of  the  electric  telegraph. 

Having  thus  explained  the  proceedings  of  the  stations  of  de- 
parture, let  us  now  pass  to  the  other  side  of  the  railway,  to  the 
station  of  arrival. 

In  cases  where  the  station  is  approached  by  a  tunnel  and  in- 
clined plan*,  such  as  has  been  already  described,  on  the  North- 
western Railway  and  at  Liverpool,  signals  are  given  of  the  ap- 
proaching arrival  of  a  train, 'so  that  the  agents  of  the  station  of 
arrival,  are  prepared  for  it,  and  have  the  rails  clear.  The  train 
is  not  allowed  to  start  from  the  fixed  engine  station  until  the  sig- 
nal is  replied  to  from  below,  and  an  intimation  given  that  all  is 
prepared.  These  formalities,  however,  are  unnecessary  on 
lines  where  the  locomotive  engine  is  enabled  to  arrive  with  the 
trains  directly  at  the  station.  In  this  case  its  approach  is  signi- 
fied by  the  whistle  of  the  engine,  which  is  generally  heard  for 


128  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  VIIL 

more  than  a  mile  distance ;  and  as  the  train  always  begins  to 
slacken  its  speed  at  this  distance,  there  is  abundant  time  for  prep- 
aration. 

Generally,  before  the  entrance  of  the  train  into  the  depot, 
the  engine  is  detached  from  it,  passes  off  into  a  siding,  and 
allows  the  train  to  proceed  by  its  momentum  to  the  station, 
where  it  is  brought  up  by  the  brake. 

Previous  to  the  arrival  of  the  train,  the  carriages,  omnibuses, 
and  vehicles  of  every  description,  which  wait  to  convey  the 
passengers  to  their  destinations,  are  admitted  to  a  convenient 
place  in  the  depot.  For  the  good  conduct  of  the  drivers  of  many 
of  these,  the  railway  company  makes  itself,  to  some  extent,  re- 
sponsible;  its  title  is  inscribed  on  their  panels,  and  in  some 
cases,  as  they  leave  the  station,  the  drivers  announce  to  the 
gate-porter  the  places  to  which  they  are  about  to  take  their 
fares,  which  is  entered  by  the  gate-porter,  with  the  number  of 
the  vehicle,  so  that  in  case  of  any  question  arising  for  articles 
left  or  misconduct,  the  number  of  the  vehicle,  and  the  time  of 
its  departure  from  the  railway  station,  can  be  always  ascer- 
tained. 

On  the  arrival  of  the  train  at  the  station,  the  agents  and  por- 
ters of  the  railway  open  the  carriages  for  the  liberation  of  the 
passengers,  while  others  rapidly  unload  the  vans  containing  the 
passengers'  baggage. 

The  distribution  of  this  is  effected  with  inconceivable  rapidity 
and  regularity.  Railway  porters  are  ready  with  the  utmost 
civility  and  promptitude  to  take  charge  of  the  baggage  of  each 
passenger,  and  carry  it  to  the  vehicle  by  which  he  is  about  to 
depart.  The  rules  of  the  companies  exclude  the  payment  of 
gratuities  for  these  services;  nevertheless,  it  is  most  just  to  say 
that  nothing  can  exceed  the  civility  and  obliging  conduct  of  all 
the  inferior  agents  thus  employed. 

When  the  train  has  been  evacuated,  the  agents  of  the  railway 
take  possession  of  it.  One  class  enters  the  carriages  and  care- 
fully searches  them  for  such  articles  as  passengers  may  have 
inadvertently  left  behind  them.  These,  some  of  which  almost, 
invariably  are  found,  are  taken  to  the  office  specially  appropriated 
to  the  purpose,  called  the  Lost  Luggage  Office.  The  carriages 
are,  in  fine,  drawn  away  to  the  depdt,  where  they  are  examined 
and  cleaned. 

The  "  Lost  Luggage  Office,"  though  not  immediately  con- 
nected with  the  active  business  of  transport,  is  a  department 
which  demands  notice.  Such  an  office,  established  in  connection 


CHAP.  VIII.]  THE  STATIONS.  129 

with  all  railway  stations  both  in  England  and  on  the  Continent, 
and  at  chief  stations,  such  as  those  of  London  and  Paris,  is  an 
object  of  considerable  interest. 

We  have  already  alluded  to  the  operations  of  the  carriage- 
searchers,  who  examine  the  interior  of  the  passenger  coaches 
immediately  after  the  evacuation  of  each  arriving  train.  They 
raise  the  cushions,  search  the  pockets,  take  up  the  carpets,  and 
diligently  examine  every  part  of  the  carriage,  and  it  rarely  hap- 
pens that  some  articles,  more  or  less,  are  not  found  which  the 
passengers  inadvertently  leave  behind  them.  These  are  sent 
by  the  searchers  immediately  to  the  "  Lost  Luggage  Office," 
where  they  are  delivered  into  the  hands  of  a  clerk,  who  enters 
in  a  register  a  description  of  the  articles,  the  number  and  desig- 
nation of  the  carriages  in  which  they  were  left,  the- hour  of  the 
arrival  of  the  train,  and  the  route  which  the  carriage,  in  which 
the  articles  were  found,  had  followed.  A  label  is  attached  to 
the  article,  numbered  in  accordance  with  the  entry  in  this 
register,  so  that  at  any  future  period  it  may  be  compared  with 
such  entry  and  identified.  If  the  article  in  question  is  marked 
with  the  address  of  its  owner,  or  if  any  indication  of  such  ad- 
dress can  be  discovered  from  its  contents,  it  is  sent  without 
delay  to  the  proprietor;  if  not,  it  is  deposited  in  a  certain  place, 
according  to  its  magnitude  and  quality,  where  it  is  left  for  a 
certain  assigned  time  waiting  for  an  application  on  the  part  of 
its  owner.  If  at  the  end  of  such  specified  time,  which  varies  in 
different  railways,  no  application  be  made,  if  it  be  a  box,  trunk, 
or  other  similar  object,  it  is  broken  open  and  the  contents  ascer- 
tained. From  the  contents  the  ownership  is  frequently  discov- 
ered, and  it  is  restored  ;  but  if  no  clew  to  such  discovery  be  thus 
obtained,  then  the  article  is  transferred  to  a  permanent  place 
of  deposit  in  the  office  or  store-room,  where  it  remains  for  a 
more  extended  period,  such  as  one  or  two  years.  If  at  the  end 
of  this  period  no  claim  be  made  on  the  part  of  the  owner,  then 
the  article,  with  others  kept  for  a  like  time,  is  publicly  sold  by 
auction  or  otherwise,  and  the  proceeds  of  the  sale  appropriated 
as  directed  by  the  managers  of  the  railway.  Such  proceeds 
are  usually  applied  to  some  charitable  object  in  connection  with 
the  railway  business. 

It  frequently  happens  that  applications  are  made  at  the  rail- 
way stations  for  lost  luggage  which  is  not  found  in  the  Lost 
Luggage  Office.  In  that  case  a  circular  is  dispatched  to  all  the 
stations  along  the  line  or  system  of  lines  at  which  the  passenger 
sustaining  the  loss  has  touched,  and  where,  by  any  possibility, 
F* 


130  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  VIII. 

the  lost  object  might  have  been  left,  and  answers  are  rapidly  ob- 
tained. This  useful  system  of  inquiry  is  greatly  extended 
through  the  agency  of  the  railway  clearing-house,  which  we 
shall  notice  hereafter.  By  this  means  such  inquiries  can  be  ex- 
tended not  merely  to  all  the  stations  belonging  to  the  railway  in 
which  the  inquiry  originates,  but  to  all  the  other  railways  spread 
over  the  chief  part  of  the  United  Kingdom. 

I  can  not  conclude  this  notice  of  the  Lost  Luggage  Office 
better  than  by  quoting  a  part  of  the  description  of  it  given  by  a 
popular  author  in  a  recent  work. 

"In  this  office  are  to  be  seen,  in  shelves  and  in  compartments, 
the  innumerable  articles  which  have  been  left  in  the  trains 
during  the  last  two  months,  each  being  ticketed  and  numbered 
with  a  figure  corresponding  with  the  entry-book  in  which  the 
article  is  defined. 

"  Without,  however,  describing  in  detail  this  property,  we 
will  at  once  proceed  to  a  large,  pitch-dark,  subterranean,  vaulted 
chamber,  warmed  by  hot-air  iron  pipes,  in  which  are  deposited 
the  flock  of  lost  sheep,  or,  without  metaphor,  the  lost  luggage 
of  the  last  two  years. 

"Suspended  from  the  roof  there  hangs  horizontally  in  this 
chamber  a  gas-pipe  about  eight  feet  long,  and  as  soon  as  the 
brilliant  burners  at  each  end  were  lighted,  the  scene  was  really 
astounding.  It  would  be  infinitely  easier  to  say  what  there  is 
not,  than  what  there  is  in  the  40  compartments  likd  great  wine 
bins  in  which  all  this  lost  property  is  arranged. 

"One  is  choke-full  of  men's  hats;  another  of  parasols,  um- 
brellas, and  sticks  of  every  possible  description ;  one  would 
think  that  all  the  ladies'  reticules  on  earth  were  deposited  in  a 
third.  How  many  little  smelling-bottles — how  many  little  em- 
broidered pocket-handkerchiefs — how  many  little  musty  eat- 
ables and  comfortable  drinkables — how  many  little  bills,  important 
little  notes,  and  other  very  small  secrets  each  may  have  con- 
tained, we  felt  that  we  would  not  for  the  world  have  ascertained; 
but  when  we  gazed  at  the  enormous  quantity  of  red  cloaks,  red 
shawls,  red  tartan  plaids,  and  red  scarfs,  piled  up  in  one  corner, 
it  was,  we  own,  impossible  to  help  reflecting  that  surely  En- 
glish ladies  of  all  ages  who  wear  red  cloaks,  &c.  must,  in  some 
mysterious  way  or  other,  be  powerfully  affected  by  the  whine 
of  compressed  air,  by  the  sudden  ringing  of  a  bell,  by  the  sight 
of  their  friends — in  short,  by  the  various  conflicting  emotions 
that  disturb  the  human  b$art  on  arriving  at  the  up-terminus  of 
the  Euston  station ;  for  else,  how,  we  gravely  asked  ourselves, 


CHAP.  VIII.]  THE  STATIONS.  131 

could  we  possibly  account  for  the  extraordinary  red  mass  be- 
fore us  ? 

"  Of  course  in  this  Rolando-looking  cave  there  were  plenty 
of  carpet  bags,  gun-cases,  portmanteaus,  writing-desks,  books, 
cigar-cases,  &c. ;  but  there  were  a  few  articles  that  certainly 
we  were  not  prepared  to  meet  wkh,  and  which  but  too  clearly 
proved  that  the  extraordinary  terminus  excitement,  which  had 
suddenly  caused  so  many  virtuous  ladies  to  elope  from  their  red 
shawls — in  short,  to  be  not  only  in  (a  bustle'  behind,  but  all  over 
— had  equally  affected  men  of  all  sorts  and  conditions. 

41  One  gentleman  had  left  behind  him  a  pair  of  leather  hunt- 
ing-breeches !  another  his  boot-jack !  A  soldier  of  the  22d 
regiment  had  left  his  knapsack  containing  his  kit.  Another 
soldier  of  the  10th,  poor  fellow!  had  left  his  scarlet  regimental 
coat!  Some  cripple,  probably  overjoyed  at  the  sight  of  his 
family,  had  left  behind  him  his  crutches !  But  what  astonished 
us  above  all  was,  that  some  honest  Scotchman,  probably  in  the 
ecstasy  of  seeing  among  the  crowd  the  face  of  his  faithful 
Jeannic,  had  actually  left  behind  him  the  best  portion  of  his 
bagpipes^ 

"  Some  little  time  ago  the  superintendent,  on  breaking  open, 
previous  to  a  general  sale,  a  locked  leather  hat-box,  which  had 
lain  in  this  dungeon  two  years,  found  in  it  under  the  hat  -£65 
in  Bank  of  England  notes,  with  one  or  two  private  letters,  which 
enabled  him  to  restore  the  money  to  the  owner,  who,  it  turned 
out,  had  been  so  .positive  that  he  had  left  his  hat-box  at  a  hotel 
at  Birmingham,  that  he  had  made  no  inquiry  for  it  at  the  rail- 
way office."  * 


THE  GOODS  STATION. 

If  the  passenger  station  of  a  great  railway  excite  an  interest 
by  its  animation,  the  goods  station  scarcely  excites  less  by  the 
enormous  magnitude  of  the  property  in  the  transfer  of  which  it 
is  employed.  The  mere  statement  of  the  number  of  goods- 
wagons  used  by  different  railway  companies  will  itself  suggest, 
to  some  extent,  the  immense  amount  of  this  department  of  rail- 
way business.  One  railway  company  alone,  the  Northwestern, 
had  in  active  employment  during  the  twelve  months  ending  the 
30th  June,  1849,  6236  wagons,  and  another,  the  York  and  New- 
castle, 11,788. 

*  "Stokers  and  Pokers,"  by  the  author  of  "Bubbles  from  the 
Brunnens  of  Nassau." 


132  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  VIII. 

The  goods  engines  of  the  former  company  performed,  within 
that  year,  a  mileage  amounting  to  2,882,674  miles,  and  consumed 
about  40,000  tons  of  coke.  The  Belgian  railways  employed, 
during  the  year  1847,  3309  goods-wagons,  which  made  a  total 
mileage  of  nearly  9  millions  of  miles.  The  North  of  France 
railway  in  the  year  1848  employed  3069  wagons,  and  made  a 
total  mileage  of  nearly  15  millions  of  miles.  The.<?e  numbers 
present  a  lively  picture  of  the  prodigious  amount  of  the  inter- 
change of  the  products  of  industry  which  takes  place  through 
this  great  agency,  and  the  business  of  registration,  embarkation, 
and  delivery  of  which  are  necessarily  transacted  at  the  goods 
stations. 

It  is  calculated  that  from  the  London  goods  station  of  the 
Northwestern  Railway,  situated  at  Camden  Town,  the  average 
number  of  wagons  arriving  and  departing  per  working  day,  is 
nearly  500.  Now  each  of  these  wagons  is  capable,  when  fully 
loaded,  of  carrying,  on  an  average,  nearly  6  tons,  but  it  is  found 
that  their  actual  average  load  is  only  2±  tons,  which  would  give 
the  weight  of  goods  arriving  and  departing  daily  at  this  station 
alone,  1125  tons.  But  even  this  statement  is  probably  below 
the  truth,  since  we  happen  to  know  that  the  number  of  tons 
received  and  delivered  at  the  Northwestern  Railway  within 
one  year  by  Mr.  Pickford  alone,  on  account  of  the  company, 
was  at  the  average  rate  of  very  nearly  900  tons  a  day. 

The  goods  station,  like  the  passenger  station,  consists  of  two 
distinct  departments,  one  appropriated  to  the  goods  about  to  be 
dispatched,  and  the  other  to  the  goods  which  have  arrived,  and 
which  are  to  be  delivered. 

A  multitude  of  carts  and  vans,  which  serve  as  a  sort  of  tenders 
to  this  department  of  the  railway  business,  are  employed  in 
radiating  through  every  part  of  the  capital,  which  they  sweep 
over  and  collect  such  parcels  of  goods  as  are  individually  too 
small  to  be  sent  by  their  expediters  by  separate  wagons.  These, 
with  the  larger  and  heavier  parcels  brought  by  independent  drays 
and  wagons,  arrive  without  interruption  during  the  day  and  tt 
great  part  of  the  night  at  the  station  of  departure,  on  the  wharves 
and  under  the  sheds  of  which  they  deposit  their  loads.  They 
are  received  by  the  loading  porters,  and  booked  and  labeled  by 
clerks  stationed  on  the  wharves  for  the  purpose.  The  smaller 
parcels,  which  are  extremely  numerous,  are  rolled  in  barrows 
and  trucks,  after  being  sorted  and  classed  according  to  their 
destinations  and  qualities,  to  the  wagons  and  vans  in  which  they 
are  to  be  transported.  The  larger  articles  are  seized  by  cranes, 


CHAP.  VIII.]  THE  STATIONS.  133 

lifts,  capstans,  and  other  machinery,  much  of  which  is  worked 
by  steam  power,  and  expeditiously  laid  on  their  respective 
wagons,  having  previously  undergone  the  processes  of  weighing, 
booking,  and  labeling. 

In  all  these  busy  operations,  nothing  is  more  surprising  than 
the  interminable  multitude  of  small  parcels,  especially  among 
those  which  arrive  in  London  from  the  chief  seats  of  manufac- 
ture. Since  the  establishment  of  this  great  agent  of  commercial 
intercourse,  the  London  retail  dealers,  instead  of  laying  in  as 
formerly,  at  intervals  more  or  less  distant,  a  large  stock,  now 
order  the  goods  as  they  want  them,  and  these  arrive  in  small 
detached  parcels,  some  of  which  often  contain  only  a  single 
article.  Thus  it  is  not  uncommon  for  a  purchaser  in  a  London 
shop  to  order  an  article  of  household  use :  the  shopkeeper  sells 
it  as  though  it  were  lying  on  one  of  his  shelves  ready  for  delivery. 
The  moment  the  order  is  received  a  communication  is  dispatched 
to  Sheffield,  Birmingham,  or  Manchester  for  the  article  in  ques- 
tion, and  in  the  course  of  the  succeeding  day,  or  at  the  latest 
within  48  hours,  the  article  is  delivered  to  the  purchaser. 

It  may  be  asked  how  the  dealer  can  manage  his  business  sub- 
ject to  the  cost  which  must  attend  the  freqilfent  transmission  of 
such  small  parcels.  The  answer  is  easy. 

By  the  perfect  organization  of  the  railway  system,  and  the 
enormous  amount  of  transport  executed  by  each  company,  they 
are  enabled  to  deliver  these  parcels  at  a  cost  which  falls  but 
lightly  on  the  retail  vendor  and  consumer.  These  light  parcels, 
such  as  objects  of  hardware  from  Birmingham  or  Sheffield,  are 
collected,  conveyed,  and  delivered  at  the  domicile  of  the  retailer 
in  London  for  Is.,  and  in  the  case  of  shorter  distances  the  entire 
business  of  the  transport,  collecting,  conveyance,  and  delivery  in 
spring-vans  in  London,  is  actually  executed  for  Gd. 

We  have  already  mentioned  the  rates  at  which  parcels  are 
delivered  by  the  passenger  trains,  but  the  objects  we  now  refer 
to  are  different,  and  for  the  same  or  a  less  cost  of  transport  are 
greater  in  weight  and  bulk.  They  are,  however,  forwarded  by 
the  goods  trains,  moving  at  a  slower  speed,  with  greater  loads, 
and  less  promptitude  and  frequency  of  departure. 

On  the  Northwestern  Railway,  which  performs  a  larger 
amount  of  goods  business  than  the  other  English  lines,  9  goods 
trains  start  from  each  terminus  every  24  hours,  5  during  the 
night,  and  4  during  the  day. 

A  goods  train  leaves  Birmingham  every  evening  at  8£  o'clock, 
and  arrives  in  London  by  4  o'clock  the  following  morning,  and 


134  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  VIII. 

its  contents  are  distributed  over  all  parts  of  London  in  two  or 
three  hours.  Thus  an  order  sent  by  a  London  retail  dealer  by 
one  of  the  fast  trains  in  the  afternoon  to  Birmingham  will  be 
responded  to  by  the  goods  train  which  arrives  at  an  early  hour 
the  following  morning.  The  possibility  of  the  commercial 
operation  we  have  described  above  will  therefore  be  readily 
comprehended. 

By  the  goods  trains  which  start  from  London  on  the  different 
roads  during  the  day,  the  products  of  the  London  markets 
which  are  in  demand  in  the  interior  of  the  country  are  carried 
down,  such  as  fish,  fruit,  and  groceries,  hundreds  of  tons  of 
which  are  dispersed  over  the  country,  and  offered  for  sale  in 
the  markets  of  Birmingham  and  other  central  towns. 

London  fruit  is  thus  supplied  to  the  markets  of  Liverpool  and 
Glasgow.  As  much  as  20  tons  of  this  article  are  frequently 
carried  daily  on  the  Northwestern  line  alone. 

The  supply  of  articles  of  consumption  by  these  goods  trains 
to  London  is  of  enormous  amount.  Not  only  cattle  and  smaller 
live  stock,  such  as  sheep,  pigs,  and  calves,  are  brought  up  in 
immense  numbers,  but  meat  ready  killed  is  brought  in  great 
quantities  to  the  London  markets. 


ENGINE  STATION. 

Connected  with  all  the  chief  .stations  of  great  railways,  there 
is  an  establishment  which  is  not  unaptly  called  the  engine  stable. 
It  consists  of  buildings  for  the  reception  of  the  engines  detached 
from  the  trains  on  their  arrival,  where  they  are  cleaned,  put  to 
rights,  and  prepared  to  renew  their  work.  In  short,  these  iron 
horses  are  cleaned,  groomed,  fed,  and  refreshed,  so  to  speak, 
and  prepared  to  renew  their  periodical  labor.  When  a  train 
arrives,  the  engine  is  detached  from  it  while  yet  in  motion,  and 
running  on  before  leaves  its  load  behind.  The  "pointsman" 
dextrously  shifts  his  switches,  so  as  to  guide  the  engine  to  an- 
other line  of  rails,  and  before  the  train  arrives  he  again  shifts 
them  back  again  so  as  to  let  the  train  run  to  the  station. 

The  engine  thus  unharnessed  proceeds  toward  its  stable.  On 
arriving  near  it,  it  stops  over  a  pit  of  some  depth,  excavated 
between  the  rails.  There  the  fireman,  opening  the  grate-bars, 
lets  the  coke  which  remains  unconsumed  in  the  fire-box  fall  into 
the  pit,  where  it  is  extinguished  by  water.  He  then  proceeds 
with  the  engine  into  the  stable,  which  is  variously  constructed 
on  different  lines,  but  generally  in  a  circular  or  polygonal  form. 


CHAP.  VIII.]  THE  STATIONS.  135 

In  the  centre  there  is  an  immense  revolving  platform,  called  a 
turn-table.  When  the  engine  arrives  upon  this  it  is  brought  to 
a  stand,  and  the  table  is  turned  until  the  engine  is  directed 
straight  toward  its  stall,  into  which  it  is  then  moved. 

Between  the  rails  in  this  stall  there  is  an  excavation  of  such 
depth  that  a  man  can  stand  upright  in  it  under  the  engine,  with- 
out being  incommoded  by  its  machinery.  This  pit  is  entered 
for  the  purpose  of  enabling  the  artificers  to  examine  the  works 
of  the  engine,  to  clean  them  and  put  them  in  order,  tightening 
and  adjusting  all  the  joints,  and  oiling  all  the  moving  parts. 
The  tubes  of  the  boiler  are  cleaned,  the  smoke-box  and  chimney 
put  to  rights,  and  the  interior  of  the  boiler  itself  washed  clean 
at  proper  intervals  ;  in  fine,  the  engine  being  put  into  fresh 
working  order,  is  again  rolled  out  on  the  centre  turn-plate, 
turned  in  the  direction  of  the  gate,  from  which  it  again  issues 
forth  to  its  labor. 

I  have  adverted  elsewhere  to  the  amount  of  fuel  consumed  in 
heating  the  water  in  raising  the  steam  in  an  engine  preparatory 
to  starting.  In  the  larger  class  of  railway  establishments,  ex- 
pedients are  adopted  to  obtain  further  economy  and  expedition 
in  this  process. 

Thus  the  water  is  heated  in  large  reservoirs,  and  introduced 
into  the  boiler  at  nearly  the  boiling  temperature. 

Coke  is  already  prepared  in  a  state  of  ignition,  and  thrown 
into  the  fire-box  while  in  vivid  combustion.  A  certain  amount 
of  coke  is  thus  saved,  inasmuch  as  coal  is  or  may  be  used  in 
heating  the  water  previously  to  its  introduction  into  the  boiler. 
The  same  expedient  may  be  adopted  at  the  several  water 
stations  on  the  road  where  there  is  a  sufficiently  active  traffic. 
The  water-tanks  may  be  kept  constantly  heated,  so  that  the 
feed,  when  introduced  into  the  boiler,  does  not  lower  in  the 
same  degree  its  temperature.  When  the  traffic  is  so  active 
that  the  feeding»tanks  are  kept  on  constant  duty,  it  may  be 
economical  to  adopt  this  expedient. 

Many  of  the  larger  class  of  engine-stables  which  we  -have 
adverted  to,  contain  from  25  to  30  stalls. 

Attached  to  this  department,  in  all  the  chief  stations,  are  ex- 
tensive work-shops  provided  with  all  the  means  for  executing 
the  smaller  class  of  repairs  necessary  for  the  engines.  Here 
duplicates  are  kept  of  the  moving  parts,  which  are  most  liable 
to  fracture  and  derangement. 

The  larger  class  of  repairs,  as  well  as  the  construction  of  en- 
gines, is,  however,  conducted  in  larger  establishments,  which 


136  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  VIII. 

have  been  erected  at  convenient  places  on  some  of  the  principal 
lines  of  railway. 


CARRIAGE   AND    WAGON    STATION. 

The  fourth  and  last  department  of  a  chief  station  which  we 
Bhall  notice,  is  that  which  is  appropriated  to  the  carrying  stock. 

The  passenger  carriages,  goods-wagons,  and  vehicles  of  every 
description,  are  collected  in  proper  sheds,  of  immense  extent, 
adapted  for  their  shelter  and  preservation. 

Here,  after  performing  their  work,  they  are  submitted  to  the 
process  of  cleaning,  internally  and  externally,  all  of  which  is 
executed,  with  admirable  skill  and  dexterity,  by  a  troop  of 
servants  of  the  company,  each  of  whom  is  disciplined  in  his 
duty.  Some  are  appointed  to  clean  the  panels  and  glasses,  and 
are  provided  with  sponges,  chamois-skins,  brushes,  cloths,  and 
other  utensils  for  the  purpose.  Others  have  the  duty  of  washing 
and  mopping  the  wheels  and  carriage,  properly  so  called,  of  ex- 
amining the  grease-boxes,  and  re-oiling,  when  necessary,  all  the 
moving  parts.  Another  set  of  agents  have  the  internal  duty, 
and  are  provided  with  proper  brushes  and  other  implements  for 
cleaning  the  interior  of  the  first  and  second  class  carriages. 
Another  is  supplied  with  oil,  blacking,  and  brushes  for  putting 
to  rights  the  leather  and  straps  on  the  roof  and  different  parts 
of  the  vehicles.  A  distinct  set  of  .agents  have  the  duty  of  oiling 
the  buffer-rods  and  other  moving  parts  of  the  vehicles,  and  of 
replenishing  the  grease-boxes  by  which  the  axles  and  journals 
of  the  wheels  are  lubricated. 

It  may  be  necessary  here  to  explain  that  the  construction  of 
the  wheels  in  railway  carriages  differs  from  that  of  the  wheels 
of  common  road  vehicles. 

In  the  carriages  used  on  common  roads,  the  axle  is  attached 
to  and  forms  part  of  the  carriage,  and  the  wheels  turn  upon  it, 
a  circular  box  being  formed  in  the  centre  of  the  wheel  fitted  to 
the  axle,  and  provided  with  means  of  lubrication,  so  that  it  may 
turn  freely  upon  the  axle.  In  railway  carriages,  on  the  contrary, 
the  axle  is  permanently  attached  to  and  connected  with  the 
wheels,  both  being  separate  from  and  independent  of  the  car- 
riage. The  axle  projects  on  either  side  beyond  the  wheels. 
When  the  wheels  are  placed  under  the  carriage,  the  bearings 
are  outside  the  wheels,  and  are  formed  into  a  sort  of  fork,  which 
rests  outside  upon  that  part  of  the  axle  which  projects  beyond 
the  wheel. 


CHAP.  VIII.]          ,          THE  STATIONS.  %  137 

The  outside  bearing,  as  it  is  called,  is  provided  with  a  small 
box  made  of  brass  or  gun  metal,  placed  immediately  over  the 
axle,  called  the  grease-box,  which  communicates  with  the  axle 
by  an  opening  in  the  bottom.  The  top  opens  by  a  hinged  lid, 
so  as  to  enable  it  to  be  replenished  from  time  to  time.  As  the 
carriage  passes  along  the  road,  men  are  prepared  at  appointed 
stations  with  grease  cans,  and  they  go  round  the  carriage  refilling 
these  grease-boxes. 

The  grease  used  for  this  purpose,  known  by  the  name  of 
yellow  grease,  is  composed  of  tallow,  palm-oil,  soda,  and  water, 
which  are  combined  in  different  proportions  according  to  the 
season  of  the  year,  and  according  to  the  varying  usages  of  dif- 
ferent railways. 

On  some  of  the  English  railways  the  following  is  the  cus- 
tomary proportion  of  these  constituents  in  1000  Ibs.  of  grease  : 

Tallow 253 

Palm-oil , 88 

Soda 25 

Water 634 

1000 

On  the  Belgian  railways,  a  much  larger  proportion  of  palm- 
oil  is  used,  the  following  being  the  composition : 

Tallow ,  „ 83 

Palm-oil  207 

Soda  14 

Water 696 

1000 

This  analysis  compared  with  the  former  shows  in  the  con- 
stituents 3  times  less  tallow,  and  2|  times  more  palm-oil. 

The  only  variation  in  different  seasons  of  the  year  is  that  the 
proportion  of  water  is  augmented  with  the  temperature  of  the 
weather. 

In  the  year  1844  the  quantity  of  this  grease  used  on  the  Bel- 
gian railways  was  75  tons,  the  cost  of  which  was  o684,  being  at 
the  rate  of  22s.  5d.  per  ton.  The  cost,  according  to  the  En- 
glish composition,  does  not  differ  materially  from  this. 

The  mileage  of  the  trains  upon  which  this  grease  was  con- 
sumed was  equal  to  a  single  train  of  14  vehicles  running  about 
a  million  of  miles. 

At  the  chief  stations  sheds  of  vast  extent  are  provided  for  the 


138  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.      ••  [CHAP.  VIII 

reception  of  the  carriages,  in  which  a  great  number  of  parallel 
lines  of  railway  are  laid  down,  and  in  which  the  carriages  are 
received  for  purposes  of  cleaning  and  repair.  At  such  stations, 
also,  workshops  and  artificers  are  provided  for  the  smaller  class 
of  repairs  which  may  be  required  by  the  carriages  and  other 
vehicles,  and  a  sufficient  supply  of  duplicates  is  kept. 


These  observations  are  applicable  chiefly  to  principal  stations. 
The  intermediate  stations  which  are  established  along  the  line 
of  railway  vary  in  magnitude  according  to  the  population  of  the 
town  or  district  with  which  they  communicate,  the  smallest 
class  consisting  of  a  single  waiting-room,  booking-office,  and  two 
or  three  clerks  and  porters. 

The  number  of  stations  provided  upon  a  line  of  railway  is 
necessarily  governed  by  the  density  of  the  population  and  the 
activity  of  the  commerce  and  intercourse  prevailing  in  the 
country  through  which  the  railway  is  carried  ;  and  in  this  re- 
spect railways  differ  very  much  from  each  other,  especially  on 
the  Continent. 

On  the  English  railways  they  are  necessarily  numerous,  the 
population  being  dense  and  busy.  On  May  1,  1848,  the  total 
number  of  miles  of  railway  under  traffic  in  the  United  Kingdom 
was  4253.  The  number  of  stations  distributed  over  this  length 
was  1831,  being  at  the  rate  of  a  station  for  every  3}  miles.  If 
the  number  of  stations  on  the' railways  now  open  be  in  the  same 
proportion,  their  number  is  1553. 

The  activity  of  the  intercommunication  which  is  maintained 
throughout  the  country  may  be  indicated,  in  connexion  with  the 
mileage  of  the  traffic,  by  the  number  of  stations  combined  with 
the  number  of  departures  which  take  place  daily  from  them, 
which  are  seen  in  the  time-tables. 


RAILWAY    REFRESHMENT    ROOMS. 

It  would  be  an  unpardonable  omission  if  this  exposition  of  the 
arrangements- made  by  the  railway  companies  for  the  conven- 
ience of  the  public  in  their  embarkation  and  disembarkation,  and 
other  accessories  of  transport,  were  concluded  without  some 
notice  of  the  refreshment-rooms. 

The  stage-coach  traveler,  who  dates  his  experience  from  an 
epoch  anterior  to  the  last  fifteen  or  twenty  years,  will  not  for- 
get the  miseries  of  the  road  incident  to  coach  breakfasts, 
lunches,  dinners,  and  suppers  ;  and  the  squabbles  about  the 


CHAP.  VIII.]  THE  STATIONS.  139 

bill,  the  wretchedness  of  the  fare,  and  the  indefinite  cravings 
of  the  waiters,  the  watermen,  luggage-porters,  and  other  in- 
terminable animals  of  prey,  which  ever  infested  the  coach 
taverns. 

These  are  now  among  the  things  that  were,  and  are  hence- 
forward consigned  to  the  novelist  and  the  historian  of  the 
manners  of  a  past  age. 

The  railway  traveler  finds  at  those  points  of  his  route  where 
the  train  stops  for  the  purpose  of  refreshment,  magnificent 
salons,  luxuriously  furnished,  warmed,  and  illuminated.  In 
these  are  established  buffets  and  all  the  appliances  necessary 
for  the  supply  of  every  variety  of  refreshment  which  each 
class  of  travelers  can  possibly  desire.  These  being  placed 
directly  or  indirectly  under  the  control  of  the  railway  authori- 
ties, are  organized  and  disciplined  in  the  most  admirable  man- 
ner. A  tariff  of  prices,  most  moderate  in  amount,  guarantees 
the  traveler  from  extortion.  The  attendants  being  all  paid  by 
the  company  or  its  subordinates,  neither  desire  nor  expect 
gratuities,  and,  indeed,  the  acceptance  of  such  is  strictly  for- 
bidden. 

As  the  trains  which  move  in  opposite  directions  always  keep 
different  sides  of  the  road,  and  as  the  practice  of  crossing  the 
line  is  attended  with  much  personal  danger,  as  will  be  shown 
when  we  come  to  consider  the  causes  of  accidents  on  railways, 
the  railway  companies  have  in  general,  at  the  refreshment 
stations,  erected  two  buildings,  one  on  each  side  of  the  line,  in 
each  of  which  a  series  of  refreshment-rooms  is  provided. 

The  upper  part  of  these  buildings  is  appropriated  to  lodging- 
rooms  for  the  superintendents  and  waiters  of  the  rooms,  and 
the  two  buildings  are  usually  connected  by  a  bridge  crossing 
the  road,  so  that  the  attendants  can  pass  with  facility  from  one 
to  the  other  without  incurring  the  danger  of  passing  over  the 
line. 

In  these  establishments  a  certain  number  of  the  waiters  and 
superintendents  sit  lip  during  the  night  by  turns  to  attend  on 
the  passengers  arriving  by  the  night-trains. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE    CLEARING-HOUSE. 

WHEN  some  progress  had  been  made  in  the  completion  of 
the  vast  network  of  iron  roads  which  now  overspreads  the 
United  Kingdom,  and  when  railway  after  railway,  to  the  num- 
ber of  some  thirty  or  forty,  had  been  successively  opened  for 
traffic,  and  had  effected  junctions  with  each  other,  so  as,  in 
reality,  to  form  one  connected  system  of  internal  communica- 
tion, though  under  numerous  independent  administrations,  an 
inconvenience  arose  which  for  some  time  appeared  to  menace 
the  operations  of  railway  establishments  with  insurmountable 
difficulties. 

The  exigencies  of  the  transport  had  no  relation  with  the 
arbitrary  limits  which  separated  the  domain  of  one  company 
from  that  of  another.  Passengers  and  goods  required  to  be 
booked  and  continuously  transported  from  one  point  of  the 
kingdom  to  another.  But  no  company  possessed  the  power  to 
do  more  than  carry  the  passenger  or  the  goods  to  the  limits  of 
its  own  line ;  there  they  were  handed  over  to  another  com- 
pany, who,  in  like  manner,  carried  them  over  its  territory,  and 
transferred  them  to  a  third,  and  so  on.  Each  company  had  its 
own  independent  machinery  of  transport,  consisting  of  engines, 
carriages,  wagons,  aod  vehicles  of  every  description.  It  had  its 
own  system  of  financial  operations  and  accounts,  and  its  own 
tariff;  the  consequence  of  which  was,  that  the  traveler  was 
compelled,  in  passing  every  boundary  between  the  rails  of  two 
adjacent  companies,  to  pass  from  one  carriage  to  another,  with 
his  luggage,  no  matter  what  might  be  the  inconvenience  attend- 
ing such  an  operation,  arising  from  inclemency  of  weather,  or 
from  the  hour  of  night. 

Great  as  was  this  inconvenience,  that  which  attended  the 
transhipment  of  goods  was  infinitely  more  grave.  The  wagons 
had  to  be  unloaded,  and  their  contents  discharged  upon  wharves 
and  platforms;  and  these  had  again  to  be  reloaded  upon  the 
wagons  of  the  other  company. 

Such  an  operation  was  not  only  attended  with  great  expense, 
which  must  necessarily  fall  upon  the  expediter  of  the  goods, 


CHAP.  IX.]  THE  CLEARING-HOUSE.  HI 

but  also  with  serious  delay,  damage,  and  risk  of  loss.  .  In  short, 
the  inconvenience  to  the  public  was  so  enormous,  and  the 
clamor  which  it  excited,  both  among  the  commercial  classes, 
and  those  who  traveled  by  the  railways,  was  so  irresistible,  that 
it  became  manifest  that  some  arrangement  must  be  adopted 
by  which  the  public  would  be  accommodated,  and  the  traffic, 
both  in  goods  and  passengers,  expedited  over  the  railways  of 
different  companies  without  being  rebooked,  repacked,  or 
^ranshiped. 

The  point  was  practically  conceded,  and  the  traffic  of  all  de- 
scriptions carried  without  interruption  from  the  lines  of  one 
company  to  those  of  another. 

But  this  immediately  produced  grave  inconveniences  and  dif- 
ficulties among  the  companies.  A  portion  of  the  receipts  which 
was  paid  into  the  hands  of  each  company  at  various  stations, 
had  to  be  paid  over  to  other  companies  upon  whose  lines  the 
traffic,  whether  in  goods  or  passengers,  was  carried.  But  be- 
sides this,  the  vehicles  of  every  sort,  belonging  to  one  company 
were  unavoidably  used  to  carry  traffic  upon  the  lines  of  other 
companies. 

Hence  arose  an  intolerable  chaos  of  cross  accounts,  out  of 
which  sprung  vexatious  disputes  and  much  litigation. 

The  confusion  and  difficulty  were  at  length  removed,  and 
this  system  of  complicated  debits  and  credits  was  reduced  to 
perfect  clearness  and  order  by  a  happy  thought  suggested  by 
the  operations  of  the  London  bankers.  The  similarity  of  the 
reciprocal  claims  of  the  railway  companies  arising  out  of  the 
operations  just  explained,  to  those  of  the  London  bankers,  aris- 
ing from  the  bill?  and  checks  drawn  upon  the  others,  received 
by  each  of  them  daily,  struck  the  mind  of  Mr.  K.  Morison, 
who  suggested  the  plan  of  establishing  a  railway  clearing-house, 
founded  on  principles  identical  with  those  which  had  been  so 
successfully  brought  into  operation  in  the  Bankers'  clearing- 
house. 

It  is  known  that  a  check  drawn  upon  any  London  banker 
may  be  paid  to  any  other  London  banker,  and  placed  to  the 
credit  of  the  customer  who  presents  it;  the  banker  receiving 
it  undertaking  to  obtain  its  liquidation  from  the  banker  on  whom 
it  is  drawn. 

This,  however,  is  effected  only  in  an  indirect  manner;  and, 
as  we  shall  see,  the  liquidation  is  accomplished  without  the  act- 
ual presentation  of  the  check,  or  its  payment  in  cash. 

It  is  now  about  throe  quarters  of  a  century  since  the  banking 


142  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  IX. 

operations  of  London  became  so  extensive  and  complicated, 
that  the  difficulties  arising  from  the  daily  settlement  of  the  bills 
and  checks  respectively  payable  by  each  London  banker  to  the 
others  called  into  existence  the  establishment  now  known  by 
the  name  of  the  "  Clearing-house,"  which  is  located  in  Lom- 
bard-street, in  the  building  formerly  occupied  by  the  Post-office. 
This  establishment  is  placed  under  the  direction  of  a  committee 
delegated  by  bankers,  who  mutually  associate  for  this  purpose. 
Two  salaried  functionaries,  called  inspectors,  have  its  imme- 
diate management,  and  are  there  present  for  the  transaction  of 
business.  From  time  to  time  during  the  day,  the  bankers 
severally  transmit  to  this  office  the  checks  and  bills  which  they 
receive,  and  which  are  payable  by  other  bankers.  As  fast  as 
they  arrive  they  are  sorted,  and  classed  according  to  the  bank- 
ers by  whom  they  are  payable,  so  that  the  checks  and  bills  pay- 
able by  each  banker  to  the  various  other  bankers  are  classed 
together. 

The  clerks  from  the  several  bankers  who  bring  to  the  clear- 
ing-house the  bills  and  checks  receivable  by  them  take  at  the 
same  time  an  account  of  the  bills  and  checks  which  have  arrived 
at  the  clearing-house,  and  which  are  payable  by  them,  and  aro 
thus  enabled,  toward  the  close  of  the  day,  to  make  up  in  their 
private  books  an  account,  as  well  of  the  checks  and  bills  payable 
by  them,  as  of  those  receivable  by  them. 

The  reception  of  bills  and  checks  is  continued  at  the  clearing- 
house until  four  o'clock,  after  which  it  ceases  ;  and  the  interval 
from  that  time  till  about  half-past  five  is  devoted  to  the  adjust- 
ment of  the  accounts,  which  is  accomplished  in  the  following 
manner: 

The  clearing-house,  by  a  fiction,  makes  itself  the  common 
debtor  and  the  common  creditor  of  all  the  bankers.  It  debits 
each  banker  with  the  amount  of  the  checks  and  bills  payable 
by  him  to  every  other  banker,  and  it  credits  him  with  the 
amounts  of  all  the  checks  and  bills  receivable  by  him  from 
every  other  banker.  This  operation  is  facilitated  and  expedited 
by  a  simple  printed  form,  which  occupies  a  sheet  of  paper  con- 
sisting of  three  columns;  the  left  and  right-hand  columns  being 
left  blank  for  the  debits  and  credits,  and  the  centre  column  being 
printed  with  the  names  of  the  bankers  associated  in  the  clear- 
ing-house alphabetically  arranged. 

One  of  these  accounts  is  filled  up  after  four  o'clock,  as  between 
the  clearing-house  and  each  banker.  The  amounts  of  the  bills 
and  checks  receivable  by  such  banker  are  written  on  the  right- 


CHAP.  IX.]  THE  CLEARING-HOUSE.  143 

hand  or  credit  column,  opposite  to  the  names  respectively  of  the 
bankers  by  whom  such  bills  or  checks  are  payable,  and  the 
amounts  of  the  bills  or  checks  payable  by  such  banker  are  writ- 
ten on  the  left-hand  or  debtor  column,  opposite  respectively  to  the 
names  of  the  bankers  to  whom  such  bills  or  checks  are  payable. 

These  statements,  thus  filled  up,  may  be  considered  as  a 
debtor  and  creditor  account  between  the  clearing-house,  repre- 
senting all  the  bankers  collectively,  and  the  single  banker  with 
whom  such  account  is  formed. 

When  thus  filled  up,  the  statement  is  examined  by  the  clerk 
of  the  banker  in  question,  and  each  item  is  by  him  verified  by 
reference  to  the  clerks  of  the  several  other  bankers.  When 
thus  verified,  it  is  returned  to  the  inspector,  who  signs  it,  and 
either  receives  or  pays  the  balance  which  appears  at  the  foot  of 
each  account,  according  as  the  debits  exceed  the  credits,  or  the 
credits  exceed  the  debits. 

It  is  clear  that  the  sum  of  the  balances  receivable  by  the 
clearing-house  must  be  precisely  equal  to  the  sum  of  the  bal- 
ances payable  by  it,  so  that  the  amount  which  it  receives  on  the 
one  hand  liquidates  the  amount  which  it  has  to  pay  on  the  other; 
and,  in  reality,  as  must  necessarily  have  been  the  case,  it  be- 
comes the  mere  agent  or  channel  through  which  the  payments 
pass  from  one  bank  to  the  other. 

In  the  practical  working  out  of  the  business,  there  are  numer- 
ous details,  such  as  certain  mutual  settlements  between  clerk 
and  clerk,  with  the  sanction  of  the  inspector,  which,  being  of 
no  importance  to  the  principle  of  the  institution,  need  not  be 
noticed  here. 

To  render  clearly  intelligible  the  operations  effected  by  the 
railway  clearing-house,  which  has  been  established  upon  princi- 
ples analogous  to  those  of  the  bankers',  it  will  be  necessary, 
first,  to  explain  the  reciprocal  interchange  of  business  which 
takes  place,  creating  systems  of  mutual  credits  and  debits  be- 
tween company  and  company. 

The  number  of  companies  who  have  combined  their  opera- 
tions in  this  manner  is  at  present  (Nov.  1849)  forty-five,  com- 
prising all  those  whose  railways  lie  north  of  a  line  passing  from 
Bristol  through  London  to  Harwich  ;  in  fact,  all  the  railways 
of  the  kingdom,  except  the  Great  Western,  the  Southwestern, 
the  London,  Brighton,  and  South-Coast,  the  Southeastern,  and 
their  branches  and  collateral  line's. 

These  railways  possess  887  stations,  at  any  one  of  which 
traffic  may  be  booked  for  any  other;  the  consequence  of  which 


144  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  IX. 

is,  that  there  are  nearly  four  hundred  thousand  different  pairs 
of  places  within  the  circle  of  operations  of  the  united  companies, 
between  which  traffic  may  be  transmitted.  In  passing  from 
any  one  such  station  to  any  other,  the  traffic  may  pass  over  part 
of  any  or  all  of  the  lines  of  the  combined  companies  with  as 
much  continuity  of  progress  as  if  the  whole  system  were  under 
the  government  of  a  single  company. 

The  service  of  the  transport,  whether  of  passengers  or  goods, 
consists,  first,  in  the  service  of  embarkation,  which  includes  all 
the  formalities  observed  at  the  station  of  departure,  consisting 
of  booking,  weighing,  loading,  packing,  &c. ;  secondly,  of  the 
transport,  properly  so  called,  which  is  represented  by  a  mile- 
age ;  and,  thirdly,  of  the  formalities  and  services  of  the  stations 
of  arrival,  where  the  traffic  is  unloaded,  discharged,  and  deliv- 
ered, and  frequently  sent  to  the  domicile  of  the  party  to  whom 
it  is  addressed. 

A  certain  rate  of  charge,  according  to  the  nature  of  the  traffic, 
being  agreed  upon  for  each  of  these  parts  of  the  service  of 
transport,  the  sum  receivable  for  each  object  of  transport  must 
be  divided  among  the  companies  over  whose  lines  it  passes, 
including  those  at  whose  stations  the  traffic  is  received  and  de- 
livered. But  the  sum  payable  for  such  transport  is  received 
either  by  the  company  at  whose  station  the  traffic  is  booked,  or 
by  the  company  at  whose  station  it  is  delivered,  or  partly  by 
one  and  partly  by  the  other. 

Two  companies  must  be  therefore  debited  with  the,  sums 
they  thus  receive,  and  they,  as  well  as  other  companies  inter- 
mediate between  them,  over  whose  lines  the  traffic  may  have 
passed,  must  be  credited  in  the  stipulated  proportion  according 
to  the  mileage. 

The  first  object  to  be  attended  to  by  the  railway  clearing- 
house is  to  adjust  these  complicated  debits  and  credits,  as  well 
for  passengers  as  for  every  species  of  goods,  with  simplicity, 
clearness,  and  dispatch,  and  in  such  a  manner  as  not  to  give  rise 
to  subsequent  disputes. 

But  besides  the  interchange  of  credits  for  traffic,  a  most  com- 
plicated account  arises,  out  of  the  circumstance  already  ex- 
plained, for  the  use  of  the  rolling  stock.  The  wagons  of  each 
of  the  numerous  companies  which  enter  into  the  union  of  the 
clearing-house  are  driven  indifferently  over  the  lines  of  all  the 
others,  carrying  traffic  for  various  companies,  and  sometimes 
transporting  a  load  no  part  of  which  is  to  be  credited  to  the 
company  owning  the  vehicle  in  which  it  is  borne. 


CHAP.  IX.]  THE  CLEARING-HOUSE.  145 

By  mutual  agreement,  a  certain  fixed  rate  is  charged  for  the 
use  of  each  class  of  vehicle,  and  every  company  over  whose 
lines  the  vehicles  of  other  companies  pass,  being  in  the  first 
instance  credited  for  the  traffic  carried  by  these  vehicles,  is 
debited  for  the  use  of  the  vehicles  themselves  in  which  such 
traffic  is  carried.  A  mileage  account  must  therefoi-e  be  kept 
of  all  the  rolling  stock  of  all  the  combined  companies,  so  that 
the  course  of  each  vehicle  may  be  traced  from  day  to  day  and 
from  hour  to  hour,  so  that  its  mileage  may  be  debited  to  such 
companies  as  may  have  shared  its  ure ;  and  in  case  of  undue 
delay  at  the  stations  of  any  company,  a  demurrage  may  be 
charged,  according  to  a  stipulated  condition,  proportional  to  such 
delay. 

To  adjust  in  a  satisfactory  and  equitable  manner  these  ac- 
counts for  the  mutual  use  of  the  rolling  stock  is  the  second 
function  of  the  clearing-house. 

The  passenger  traffic  being  liable  to  a  government  duty  pay- 
able on  booking  to  the  company  at  whose  station  passengers  are 
embarked,  must  necessarily  pay  this  duty  in  advance,  and  must 
pay  it  for  the  entire  trip  for  which  the  passenger  is  booked. 
This  duty,  however,  is  chargeable  in  the  proportion  of  a  mileage 
to  all  the  companies  over  whose  lines  the  passenger  travels. 
Hence  an  account  must  be  kept  in  which  the  booking  company 
will  be  credited  .for  the  duty  thus  paid,  and  the  several  compa- 
nies over  whose  lines  the  passenger  is  carried  would  be  debited 
in  proportion  to  the  mileage  for  their  respective  shares  of  the 
amount. 

When  the  claims  of  one  company  upon  another,  arising  out 
of  these  transactions,  are  not  liquidated  within  a  stipulated  time, 
they  are  subject  to  interest  at  a  rate  agreed  upon.  An  interest 
account  must  therefore  be  kept  between  company  and  company. 

Luggage,  parcels,  and  other  objects  of  traffic  being  liable  to 
bo  lost  or  "Unduly  delayed,  claims  and  complaints  arise  between 
company  and  company.  The  settlement  of  such  claims  enters 
into  the  class  of  operations  to  be  transacted  by  the-  clearing- 
house. 

Such  are  the  principal  functions  which  the  institution  of  the 
clearing-house  is  called  on  to  discharge. 

Let  us  now  consider  the  manner  in  which  these  operations 
are  effected. 

The  central  clearing-house  is  established  in  London,  in  a 
building  situate  near  the  Euston  station  of  the  Northwestern 
Railway.  It  is  placed  under  the  direction  of  a  body  of  mana- 
G 


116  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CuAp.lX. 

gers  elected  by  the  companies,  in  which  each  company  is  repre- 
sented. 

This  central  office  has  agents  at  all  the  stations  comprised 
within  the  circle  of  the  united  companies. 

In  adjusting  the  mutual  debits  and  credits  of  the  companies, 
no  company  is  regarded  either  as  the  debtor  or  creditor  of  any 
other,  but  the  clearing-house  is  the  common  creditor  and  the 
common  debtor  of  all.  We  shall  explain  successively  the  mode 
in  which  each  class  of  claim  is  arranged,  beginning  with  the 
most  important. 


THE  GOODS   TRAFFIC   AND  LIVE  STOCK. 

From  each  of  the  887  stations  goods  are,  or  may  be,  forwarded 
daily  to  any  or  all  of  the  other  886  stations.  An  account  of  such 
goods  so  forwarded,  with  the  sums  paid  and  received  for  each 
parcel,  is  kept  at  each  of  these  stations,  and  a  copy  of  this  ac- 
count, written  in  black  ink,  is  forwarded  daily  to  the  central 
clearing-house  in  London. 

In  like  manner,  at  each  of  the  887  stations  a  quantity  of 
goods  is,  or  may  be,  received  daily  from  any  or  all  of  the  other  sta- 
tions, an  account  of  which  is  kept.  A  copy  of  this,  written  in  red 
ink,  is  daily  forwarded  to  the  central  clearing-house  in  London. 

The  central  clearing-house  thus  receives,  or  may  receive, 
887  black  and  887  red  accounts  daily;  the  black  reporting  all 
the  goods  which  have  been  forwarded  from  all  the  stations,  and 
the  red  reporting  all  the  goods  which  have  been  received  at  all 
the  stations. 

Now,  as  it  is  evident  that  the  goods  which  are  received  can 
neither  be  more  nor  less  than  the  goods  which  are  forwarded, 
the  red  accounts  must  correspond  exactly  with  the  black  ac- 
counts, although  the  items  will  occur  in  a  different  order.  A 
parcel  of  goods  dispatched  from  one  station  must  have  arrived 
at  some  other,  and  a  parcel  of  goods  which  has  arrived  at  any 
station  must  have  been  dispatched  from  some  other.  Thus  an 
entry  in  the  black  accounts  must  have  a  corresponding  entry 
in  the  red  accounts,  and  an  entry  in  the  red  accounts  must 
have  a  corresponding  entry  in  the  black  accounts. 

This  is  what  ought  to  take  place,  supposing  no  error  in  the 
accounts,  and  no  miscarriage  in  the  transport;  but  in  practice 
it  is  found  that  this  perfect  accordance  is  oever  realized,  and 
that  there  is,  upon  an  average,  somewher'e  about  thirty  per 
cent,  daily  of  entries  in  the  one  which  have  no  corresponding 


CHAP.  IX.]  THE  CLEARING-HOUSE.  147 

entries  in  the  other.  This  discrepancy  nrises  from  one  of  three 
causes,  first,  from  an  entry  being  made  of  an  object  dispatched, 
which  object  has  been  accidentally,  or,  through  error,  mislaid ; 
secondly,  from  an  entry  being  omitted  of  an  object  received, 
although  that  object  may  have  been  received  ;  and,  thirdly,  from 
a  miscarriage  en  route. 

At  the  central  clearing-house,  where  the  two  statements  of 
accounts,  black  and  red,  are  compared,  and  their  discrepancies 
detected,  letters  are  written  to  such  of  the  stations  where  the 
errors  have  been  committed,  giving  notice  of  the  omission,  and 
demanding  explanation.  Rectifications  and  explanations  ensue, 
and  the  accounts  are  finally  adjusted. 

The  central  clearing-house  having  opened  an  account  with 
each  of  the  companies,  credits  each  with  the  sums  which 
appear  to  be  receivable  by  it  from  the  system  of  accounts  ex- 
plained above,  and  debits  it  for  the  sums  with  which  it  appears 
to  be  chargeable. 

At  the  close  of  each  month,  these  several  accounts  between 
the  clearing-house  and  the  companies  respectively  are  balanced. 
In  some  of  these  the  balances  are  in  favor  of  the  clearing-house, 
in  others  in  favor  of  the  company;  but  from  the  nature  of  the 
transactions,  these  sets  of  balances  must  be  precisely  equal; 
the  sum  due  to  the  clearing-house  by  the  debtor  companies 
must  be  equal  to  the  sum  owing  by  the  clearing-house  to  the 
creditor  companies.  The  debtor  companies  having  liquidated 
their  balances,  the  clearing-house  distributes  the  sum  it  receives 
between  the  creditor  companies,  in  the  proportion  of  their 
respective  balances. 

But  if  the  debtor  companies,  or  any  of  them  fail  to  liquidate 
their  balances  within  a  specified  time,  then  the  clearing-house 
debits  such  companies  with-interest  on  such  balance  at  the  rate 
of  five  per  cent.;  and  it  credits  those  creditor  companies 
whose  balances  it  fails  to  liquidate,  in  consequence  of  such 
delay,  with  interest  at  the  same  rate.  Thus  the  interest  cred- 
its will  be  exactly  equal  to  the  interest  debits. 

PASSENGER    TRAFFIC. 

When  passengers  are  booked  at  any  railway  station  for  any 
other  station,  they  pay  their  .full  fare,  and  receive  a  stamped 
ticket,  on  which  is  indicated  the  pluce,  day,  and  hour  of  their 
departure,  and  the  place  of  their  destination. 

On  arriving  at  their  destination  they  deliver  up  this  ticket 


148  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  IX. 

to  the  agents  of  the  station  of  arrival.  Carriages  and  horses 
booked  are  represented  in  like  manner  by  tickets  or  checks, 
•which  are  delivered  up  on  their  arrival.  Parcels  and  baggage 
are  entered  on  a  way-bill,  in  which  are  indicated  the  places 
of  their  destination,  and  the  sums  paid,  or  to  be  paid,  for  them. 

Each  station  sends  daily  to  the  central  clearing-house  a  state- 
ment of  the  number  of  passengers  of  each  class  which  it  has 
booked,  with  their  places  of  destination,  and  the  sums  received. 
It  sends,  also,  a  statement  of  the  horses,  carriages,  and  parcels 
booked,  with  like  particulars. 

Each  station  likewise  sends  to  the  central  clearing-house  all 
the  tickets  which  have  been  delivered  by  passengers  who  have 
arrived  there  daily,  as  well  as  the  checks  for  carriages  and 
horses,  and  likewise  a  statement  of  the  parcels  and  luggage 
which  it  has  received. 

At  the  central  clearing-house  the  tickets  are  examined  and 
classed,  and  their  number  in  the  gross  of  each  class  compared 
with  the  number  in  the  gross  of  the  passengers  who  have  been 
booked.  These  two  ought  to  correspond,  and  any  discrepan- 
cies are  notified,  and  ultimately  explained  and  adjusted.  This 
operation  is  facilitated  by  a  course  observed  in  all  the  booking- 
offices,  in  consequence  of  which  the  passenger  tickets  of  each 
class  are  issued  in  numerical  order,  each  ticket  being  stamped 
with  a  separate  number,  and  the  numbers  following  each  other 
consecutively  for  each  class  daily  from  1  to  10,000. 

The  account  for  parcels  is  dealt  with  in  a  manner  precisely 
similar  to  that  which  has  been  already  explained  in  the  case  of 
merchandise. 

The  clearing-house  debits  the  companies  respectively  for  the 
sums  they  have  received  for  all  these  objects,  and  it  credits 
them  according  to  the  stipulated  rate  for  the  mileage,  embarka- 
tion, or  delivery  of  such  as  have  passed  over  their  lines,  for 
such  as  they  have  booked  and  embarked,  and  such  as  they  have 
discharged  and  delivered. 

These  accounts  are  balanced  monthly,  and  dealt  with  in  the 
same  manner,  exactly,  as  has  been  already  explained  in  the 
case  of  goods. 

The  passenger  tickets,  after  having  been  duly  examined  and 
classed,  so  as  to  regulate  the  clearing-house  accounts,  are  re- 
turned to  the  companies  respectively. 

A  separate  account  is  kept  of  the  government  duty  payable 
for  passengers,  and  which,  as  has  been  observed,  is  exacted 
from  the  company  with  whom  the  passenger  is  booked,  though 


CHAP.  IX.]  THE  CLEARING-HOUSE.  149 

chargeable  to  all  the  companies  over  whose  lines  the  passenger 
is  carried,  in  proportion  to  their  respective  mileage.  The 
clearing-house  credits  the  company  which  books  for  the  entire 
amount  of  the  duty  it  has  paid,  and  then  debits  all  the  companies 
over  whose  lines  the  passengers  are  carried,  including  the  book- 
ing company  itself,  with  their  ^respective  proportions  of  the  duty 
according  to  the  portion  of  the  lines  over  which  the  passengers 
have  been  carried. 

Although  the  clearing-house  accounts  are  only  furnished 
monthly  to  the  several  companies,  yet  a  weekly  abstract  of  the 
account  for  the  traffic  in  passengers  and  goods  is  sent  to  them 
respectively,  to  enable  them  to  make  up,  as  is  customary,  their 
weekly  returns  of  traffic. 


CARRYING    STOCK. 

The  clearing-house  has  agents  posted  at  all  the  points  of 
junction  of  the  lines  of  different  companies  at  which  traffic  is 
liable  to  pass  from  one  to  another.  The  duty  of  these  agents 
is  to  register  the  number  and  quality  of  each  vehicle,  which 
passes  from  one  line  to  another,  indicating  its  owner.  They 
also  register  the  number  of  the  tarpaulins  by  which  wagons 
are  covered,  and  which  do  not  necessarily  constitute  a  part  of 
the  wagon,  nor  always  belong  to  the  same  owners. 

The  clearmg-house  agents  at  all  the  stations  keep  a  similar 
register.  A  comparison  of  all  these  registers,  copies  of  which 
are  sent  up  to  the  central  clearing-house,  enables  the  authori- 
ties there  to  trace  the  course  of  every  wagon  over  the  network 
of  lines,  and  to  ascertain  its  daily  mileage  on  each  line,  and  the 
time  it  has  been  detained  at  the  stations  respectively.  The 
clearing-house  by  these  means  is  enabled  to  debit  the  companies 
respectively  at  a  stipulated  rate  of  mileage  for  the  use  of  the 
wagans  or  of  the  tarpaulins,  as  the  case  may  be,  and  to  credit 
the  companies  who  own  the  same  for  like  sums.  A  statement 
of  accounts  representing  the  use  of  the  rolling  stock  is  thus 
opened  between  the  clearing-house  and  the  companies  respect- 
ively. In  each  of  these  accounts  there  appears  on  the  credit 
side  the  sums  due  to  the  company  for  the  use  of  its  wagons 
and  tenders  by  other  companies,  and  on  the  debit  side  the 
sums  due  by  it  for  the  use  of  the  wagons  and  tenders  of  other 
companies  upon  its  lines.  The  balances  of  these  accounts  are 
settled  monthly,  and  are  subject  to  precisely  the  same  observa- 
tions as  the  balance  of  the  traffic. 


150  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  IX. 

Finally,  all  questions  and  claims  respecting  lost  luggage  or 
parcels  are  made  and  arranged  through  the  agency  of  the  clear- 
ing-house. When  any  parcel  or  other  object  has  failed  to 
arrive  at  its  destination,  or  when  any  passenger  misses  a  portion 
of  his  luggage,  notice  is  sent  to  the  Lost  Luggage  Office  and 
the  clearing-house,  with  an  indication  of  the  route  over  which 
the  passenger  traveled,  or  the  station  at  which  the  lost  object 
was  booked.  A  communication  is  immediately  sent  to  all  the 
stations  along  the  line  indicated,  with  a  description  of  the  ob- 
ject lost,  and  answers  are  duly  received.  In  general  the  object 
is  recovered  if  lost  upon  the  road. 

The  enormous  extent  of  the  transactions  in  the  settlement 
of  which  the  agency  of  the  clearing-house  is  employed  may  be 
imagined  from  the  following  circumstances  : 

The  number  of  communications  made  daily  from  the  central 
clearing  house  to  the  provincial  stations  respecting  errors  and 
omissions  in  the  reports  of  traffic  are  estimated  at  two  hundred 
and  fifty.  The  number  of  distinct  accounts  settled  and  balanced 
monthly  for  the  goods  traffic  alone  is  estimated  at  about  five 
thousand. 

The  monthly  account  furnished  to  each  of  the  companies  who 
are  united  in  the  establishment  of  the  clearing-house  contain? 
for  each  station  of  each  company  a  statement  of  the  weights  of 
each  object  of  traffic,  the  distances  on  the  respective  lines  over 
which  it  is  carried,  the  expenses  of  its  embarkation  and  disem- 
barkation, and  the  balance  on  the  total  traffic  at  each  station. 

These  monthly  accounts  are  considered  final  so  far  as  respects 
their  settlement,  and  in  case  the  companies  fail  to  liquidate 
them  they  are  chargeable  with  interest ;  but  any  errors  or 
omissions  which  may  be  detected  in  them  are  corrected  and 
allowed  for  in  the  accounts  of  the  subsequent  month. 

As  an  example  of  the  complexity  of  the  accounts  settled  by 
this  establishment,  it  may  be  mentioned  that  in  the  parcel  de- 
partment alone  the  majority  of  parcels  booked  are  under  twelve 
pounds  weight,  and  the  total  charge  for  their  embarkation, 
transmission,  and  delivery,  frequently  does  not  exceed  four 
shillings.  Thus,  from  any  part  of  Birmingham  to  any  part  of 
London  the  charge,  including  cartage  and  delivery,  is  only  one 
shilling,  and  the  charge  between  London  and  the  remotest  part 
of  Scotland  is  only  four  shillings.  These  charges  have  to  be 
debited  among  all  the  companies  over  whose  lines  and  in  whose 
wagons  the  objects  may  have  been  conveyed.  In  this  way  one 
shilling  has  sometimes  to  be  credited  to  three  companies. 


CHAP.  IX.]  THE  CLEARING-HOUSE.  161 

I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  K.  Morison,  the  manager  of  the  clear- 
ing-house, for  the  following  return  of  the  present  statistics  of 
the  establishment: 

Clearing-home  Statistics  for  Year  ending  June  30,  1849. 

Number  of  railway  companies  associated  in 

the  clearing  system 45 

Length  of  associated  lines #,633    miles. 

Average  length 80 £     „ 

Number  of  stations  supplying  returns 887 

Amount  of  accounts  passed  through  clearing- 
house   1,691,720^.  12s. 

Tons  of  goods  included  in  these  accounts. . .  2,215,407 

Number  of  passengers,  do 696,407 

Their  total  mileage 103,240,304 

Average  mileage  per  passenger 148 

Number  of  wagons  on  which  the  clearing- 
house charged  mileage 487,304 

Number  of  passenger-coaches,  do 79,260 

Average   number  of  junctions  crossed  per 

passenger 1'85 

The  principle  which  has  been  brought  into  successful  opera- 
tion in  the  clearing-house  admits  of  still  more  extensive  applica- 
tion, which  doubtless  it  will  receive. 

The  practical  effect  of  the  arrangement,  even  so  far  as  it  is 
hitherto  developed,  is  to  facilitate  such  an  interchange  of  the  use 
of  the  rolling-stock,  and  the  service  of  the  stations  between  com- 
pany and  company,  as  to  render  their  benefits  in  a  great  degree 
common  to  all.  Each  company  by  this  expedient  maintains  a 
stock  not  only  for  its  own  traffic,  but  to  some  extent  for  the 
traffic  of  other  companies,  and  in  exchange  receives  the  benefit 
of  the  stock  and  the  stations  of  other  companies. 

The  perfection  to  which  this  system  tends  would  be,  that  a 
common  rolling  stock  should  be  kept  for  all  the  companies,  in 
the  support  of  which  they  should  as  it  were  club,  each  contrib- 
uting a  share  to  its  maintenance,  in  proportion  to  the  quantity 
of  traffic  transported  by  it. 

At  present  the  interchange  is  limited  to  the  vehicles  of  trans- 
port, the  engines  of  each  company  being  confined  in  their  move- 
ments to  the  lines  of  the  company  to  which  they  belong;  but 
there  is  nothing  which  should  prevent,  under  proper  arrange- 
ments, the  same  interchange  of  locomotive  power  as  now  takes 
place  with  so  much  advantage  in  the  carrying  stock. 

In  fine,  the  clearing-house  may  ultimately  grow  into  an  estab- 


152  EAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  X. 

lishment  for  the  maintenance  of  a  general  locomotive  and  carry- 
ing stock  for  the  use  of  all  the  railways,  to  be  supported  by  the 
railways  in  common,  and  charged  to  them  in  the  proportion  in 
which  they  use  it. 

So  far  as  regards  the  management  of  the  traffic,  there  is 
nothing  which  should  limit  the  operation  of  the  clearing-house 
to  the  railways  of  the  United  Kingdom. 

By  proper  arrangements,  the  same  reciprocal  conveniences 
now  obtained  by  the  railway  companies  in  reference  to  the  traffic 
booked  through,  as  it  is  technically  called,  might  be  extended  to 
the  entire  continent  of  Europe,  so  that  passengers  or  goods  might 
be  booked  at  any  station  on  any  English  railway  for  any  station 
on  any  continental  railway.  The  fare  might  be  received  on 
booking  either  wholly  or  partially,  and  might  be  distributed  be- 
tween the  various  lines  over  which  the  traffic  should  pass,  in  the 
same  manner  as  it  at  present  is  among  the  railways  which  are 
united  under  the  clearing  system. 


CHAPTER  X. 

PASSENGER    TRAFFIC. 

THE  movement  of  the  passenger  traffic,  like  that  of  the  draw- 
ing and  carrying  stock,  is  expressed  by  its  mileage. 

If  the  distance  in  miles  over  which  the  passengers  are  indi- 
vidually transported  be  added  together,  the  aggregate  will  be 
their  total  mileage,  and  will  express  the  number  of  passengers, 
each  of  whom  being  carried  one  mile  would  give  a  mileage  equal 
to  the  actual  traffic. 

The  mileage  of  the  different  classes  of  passengers  is  a  matter 
of  easy  calculation  from  the  records  of  the  booking  office.  The 
ticket  delivered  to  each  passenger  expresses  the  stations  of  de- 
parture and  arrival,  from  which  the  distance  traveled  can  be  at 
once  ascertained.  In  the  following  table  is  exhibited  the  total 
number  of  passengers  of  each  class  carried  on  the  English  rail- 
ways during  a  period  of  6£  years,  ending  the  31st  Dec.  1848, 
together  with  the  total  mileage  of  each  class. 


CHAP.  X.] 


PASSENGER  TRAFFIC. 


153 


ngers  on  the  Railways  of 
d  a  Half  terminating  Dec. 

the  United  Kingdom  during  the  Six  Years  ar 
31,  1848. 

For  twelve  months  ending  June  30,  1843. 

Number 
booked. 

Total  Mileage. 

118,990,040 
172,778,573 
86,148,050 

11,998,512 
6,891,844 

3d  class  

Totals  

23,466,896 

5,393,332 
13,269,686 

377,916,663 

140,226,632 
191,083,478 
113,757,300 

For  twelve  months  ending  June  30,  1844. 
1st  class  

2d  class 

3d  class  

9,100;584 

Totals 

27,763,602 

445,067,410 

For  twelve  months  ending  June  30,  1845. 

5,644,163 
14,665,825 
13,481,266 

146,748,238 
211,187,880 
168,515,812 

2d  class                       

3d  class 

Totals  

33,791,254 

526,451,930 

For  twelve  months  ending  June  30,  1846. 
1st  class                                              

6,525,876 
17,905,788 
19,359,320 

192,513,342 
328,272,780 

277,463,586 

2d  class 

Sdclass                                        

Totals  

43,790,984 

798,269,708 

For  twelve  months  ending  June  30,  1847. 
1st  class 

7,110,940 
20,313,966 
23,927,256 

173,702,839 
310,974,797 
320,327,929 

2d  class 

Totals  

For  twelve  months  ending  June  30,  1848. 
1st  class 

51,352,162 

805,005,565 

7,190,779 
21,690,510 
29,083,782 

180,380,695 
348,467,044 
378,167,196 

2d  class 

Totals  

For  six  months  ending  December  31,  1848. 
1st  class                                              

57,965,071 

907,014,935 

3,743,602 
12,191,549 
15,695,141 

100,982,787 
201,550,815 
220,636,080 

2d  class 

3d  class  

Totals  

31,630,292 

523,169,682 

154 


RAILWAY  ECONOMY. 


[CHAP.  X. 


From  the  data  supplied  from  this  table  we  are  enabled  to  col- 
lect the  average  daily  amount  of  transport  iu  passengers  exe- 
cuted by  the  railways. 

To  do  this  it  is  only  necessary  to  divide  the  mileage  in  each 
of  the  above  periods  by  the  number  of  days.  In  like  manner,  to 
ascertain  the  average  distance  traveled  by  each  passenger  booked 
in  the  successive  periods,  it  is  necessary  to  divide  the  numbers 
given  in  the  second  column  by  the  corresponding  numbers  in 
the  first  column. 

Finally,  to  determine  the  average  number  of  passengers 
booked  per  day,  it  is  only  necessary  to  divide  the  numbers  in 
the  first  column  respectively  by  the  number  of  days. 

The  following  will  be  the  results : 


TABULAR  ANALYSIS  of  the  daily  Mileage,  average  D  stance  traveled  by 
Passengers,  and  average  Numbers  booked  on  the  Railways  of  the 
United  Kingdom. 

For  twelve  months  ending  June  30,  1843. 
1st  class 

Average 
daily 
Mileage 

Average 
Distance 
traveled 
by  each 
Passen- 
ger. 

Average 
Number  of 
Passengers 
booked 
daily. 

326,000 
473,366 
236,022 

26-00 
14-40 
12-50 

12,538 
32,873 

18,882 

2d  class  

3d  class 

Totals  and  averages  

For  twelve  months  ending  June  30,  1844. 
1st  class    .   .  --  

1,035,388 

16-10 

64,293 

384,182 
523,516 
311,664 

26-00 
14-40 
12-50 

14,776 
36,355 
24,933 

2d  class 

3dclass    

Totals  and  averages  
For  twelve  months  ending  June  30,  1845. 

1,219,362 

16-03 

76,064 

402,050 
578,597 
461,687 

26-00 
14-40 
12-50 

15,464 

40,180 
36,935 

2d  class  

3d  class                               .     . 

Totals  and  averages  

For  twelve  months  ending  June  30,  1846. 
1st  class 

1,442,334 

15-57 

92,579 

527,434 
896,637 
760,229 

29-50 
18-33 
14-33 

17,879 
49,057 
53,039 

2d  class  

3d  class                  .                     .   

Totals  and  averages  

2,184,300 

18-22 

119,975 

CHAP.  X.] 


PASSENGER  TRAFFIC. 


155 


Average 

daily 
Mileage. 

Average 
Distance 
traveled 
by  each 
Passen- 
ger. 

Average 
Number  of 
Passengers 
booked 
daily. 

For  twelve  months  ending  June  30,  1847. 
1st  class                                      

475,898 

24-40 

19,504 

851,985 

14-70 

57,958 

3d  class  

877,611 

14^16 

61,978 

2,205,494 

15-74 

139,440 

For  twelve  months  ending  June  30,  1848. 
1st  class 

494,166 

25-00 

19,767 

2d  class                           

954,704 

16-00 

59,669 

3d  class                                       •--- 

],036,074 

13-00 

79,698 

Totals  and  averages-.  

2,484,944 

15-65 

159,134 

For  six  months  ending  Dec.  31,  1848. 

553,330 

27-00 

20,493 

2d  class              

1,104,388 

16-50 

66,932 

3d  class 

1,208,964 

14-00 

86,354 

Totals  and  averages  

2,866,682 

16-54 

173,779 

The  results  of  this  table  are  remarkable,  and  with  many  will 
be  unexpected.  The  average  distances  traveled  by  the  different 
classes  of  passengers  which  are  exhibited  in  the  second  column 
are  much  smaller  than  might  have  been  supposed.  Thus  the 
first-class  passengers  booked,  taken  one  with  another,  traveled 
only  27  miles  even  in  the  last  half-year,  when  the  distance  was 
increased  comparatively  with  previous  results. 

The  average  distance  traveled  by  second  and  third-class  pas- 
sengers are  16  and  14  miles  respectively. 

It  may  be  objected  to  the  average  distances  obtained  in  this 
way,  that  although  they  are  correct  for  any  system  of  railways 
conducted  under  single  management,  yet  that  as  passengers  who 
start  from  a  station  on  one  railway,  pass  successively  during  the 
same  trip  over  the  lines  of  one  or  more  other  companies,  they 
will  figure  in  the  returns  as  so  many  different  passengers  booked ; 
that  they  will  therefore  unduly  augment  the  divisor  by  which 
the  mean  distances  are  calculated,  and  therefore  give  average 
distances  under  the  truth. 

To  ascertain  to  what  extent  this  objection  prevails,  we  shall 
take  advantage  of  some  returns  of  the  traffic  which  passes  from 
railway  to  railway,  given  by  Mr.  Morison,  the  manager  of  the 
railway  clearing-house. 


156  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  X. 

According  to  these  returns,  the  total  number  of  passengers 
who  went  from  one  railway  to  another  in  the  year  1845 
was  517,888,  and  the  total  mileage  of  these  passengers  was 
75,783,149.  The  average  distance  traveled  per  passenger  was 
therefore  146  miles.  The  average  length  of  the  railways  sever- 
ally was  41  miles,  therefore  the  average  number  of  junctions 
crossed  by  each  passenger  was  in  that  year  3-61.  It  follows, 
therefore,  that  each  of  these  passengers  counted  in  the  total 
booked  as  3-61  passengers,  and  we  shall  obtain  the  true  number 
booked  by  subtracting  from  the  total  the  above  number  of  through 
passengers  multiplied  by  2-61.  Thus  we  have, 

Total  number  booked  in  1845,6 43,790,984 

Deduct  for  passengers  booked  more  than  once, 

517,888  X  2-61 1,351,688 

42,439,296 

Dividing  then  the  total  mileage,  798,269,708,  in  1805,6,  by 
this,  we  find  for  the  average  distance  actually  traveled  by  each 
passenger  booked  18-8  miles  instead  of  18-2. 

Since  1845,  owing  to  the  amalgamations,  the  average  length 
of  the  independent  lines  is  less,  and  therefore  the  correction 
would  produce  still  less  effect  on  the  computed  average 
distance. 

The  number  of  the  passengers  recorded  in  the  clearing- 
house for  the  twelve  months  ending  June  30,  1849,  was  (see 
p.  151) 

696,407, 
and  their  total  mileage  was 

103,240,160. 

Taking  the  halves  of  these  numbers  as  approximately  repre- 
senting the  through  passenger  traffic  for  the  half-year  ending 
December  31,  1848,  we  have  the  number  of  through  passengers 
for  that  half-year, 

348,203, 
and  their  mileage 

51,620,080. 

The  average  distance  traveled  by  each  through  passenger  waa 
therefore 

148-2. 


CHAP.  X.]  PASSENGER  TRAFFIC.  157 

But  the  total  length  of  the  associated  railways  was 
3633, 

and  their  number  was  45.     Their  average  length  was  therefore 
80-7  miles. 

Dividing  148-2  by  80-7,  we  obtain  1-83  as  the  average  number 
of  junctions  crossed  by  each  through  passenger. 

To  find,  therefore,  the  true  number  of  through  passengers 
booked,  we  must  subtract 

348,203  X  0-83  =  289,008, 
from  the  total  number  of  passengers  for  the  half-year : 


Remains        31,341.284, 

which  is  therefore  the  actual  number  of  passengers  booked. 
Dividing  the  total  mileage, 

523,169,682, 
by  this,  we  obtain 

16-7, 

instead  of  16-5,  as  the  average  distance  traveled  by  each  pas- 
senger. 

It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  the  through  traffic  produces  no 
effect  worthy  of  attention  on  the  average  distances. 

I  find  that  similar  results  are  obtained  on  foreign  railways ; 
so  that  it  may  be  assumed  as  a  principle  of  high  generality  in 
the  commercial  phenomena  of  railways,  that  the  great  mass  of 
the  passengers  consists  of  those  who  travel  short  distances. 

The  second  and  third  columns  of  the  preceding  table  taken 
together,  exhibit  in  the  most  complete  manner  the  actual  daily 
traffic  in  passengers  on  the  railways.  In  the  third  column  we 
have  the  actual  average  number  of  passengers  of  each  class 
which  were  booked,  and  in  the  second  column  we  give  the 
average  distances  which  they  traveled. 

It  may  be  observed  that  the  results  above  obtained  for  the 
year  184G  are  exceptional,  that  year  appearing  to  have  been  one 
in  which  the  movement  of  the  population  was  characterized 
by  extraordinary  activity  as  compared  with  preceding  years. 
While  the  total  mileage  of  1845,  as  compared  with  1844,  was 


133 


RAILWAY  ECONOMY. 


[CHAP.  X. 


only  increased  about  20  per  cent.,  the  total  mileage  of  1846,  as 
compared  with  1845,  was  increased  50  per  cent.  We  find  that 
the  average  distance  traveled  by  all  classes  was  augmented  from 
26  to  29  miles  for  the  first  class,  from  14  to  18  for  the  second, 
and  from  12  to  14  for  the  third,  after  having  been  stationary  for 
the  three  preceding  years,  and  that  they  returned  to  their 
former  amount  in  the  following  years. 

As  might  be  expected,  however,  on  different  lines  and  in  dif- 
ferent localities,  the  average  distances  traveled  by  the  different 
classes  vary  within  considerably  wide  limits.  In  order  to  ex- 
hibit this  interesting  statistical  fact,  I  have  computed  separately 
the  average  distance  traveled  by  the  several  classes  of  passengers 
on  eleven  of  the  principal  systems  of  railways  in  England,  and 
also  upon  all  the  remaining  lines  collectively,  and  give  the  results 
of  this  calculation  in  the  following  table  : 


TABULAR  ANALYSIS  of  the  average  Distances  traveled  by  Passengers  on 
the  under-mentioned  Hallways  during  the  Twelve  Months  which  term- 
inated on  June  30,  1847. 

Names  of  Railways. 

Average   Distance    traveled 
by  each  Passenger. 

General  average 
Distance  trav- 
eled per  Passen- 
ger, of  all 
Classes. 

1st  Class. 

2d  Class. 

3d  Class. 

London  and  Northwestern... 
Great  Western 

Miles. 
50-50 
44-33 
33-00 

26-60 

39-00 

Miles. 
32-00 
23-00 
21-00 

22-00 
32-00 

Miles. 
25-00 
44-00 
13-00 

12-00 
18-00 
21-00 
35-00 
29-00 
16-00 
18-00 
11-00 
9-20 

Mile*. 

40-19 
29-66 
16-85 

17-00 
26-22 
23-68 
29-18 
23-9-2 
15-60 
21-04 
12-75 
8-55 

Midland 

London,  Brighton,  and  South 
Coast 

London  and  Cambridge  

Bristol  and  Birmingham...   . 
London  and  Southwestern.  . 
York  and  Newcastle  

33-00 
28-20 
26-50 
27-00 
20-00 
10-60 

29-00 
20-00 
10-00 
23-00 
16-00 
7-10 

York  and  North  Midland  ..   . 
Lancashire  and  Yorkshire  .   . 
All  the  remaining  lines  —   . 

General  averages  

24-40 

14-70 

14-16 

15-74 

To  ascertain  the  proportion  in  which  each  class  of  passengers 
contributed  to  the  business  of  the  railways,  it  will  be  necessary 
to  compare,  1st,  the  numbers  booked  of  the  respective  classes 
with  the  total  number;  and,  2d,  the  quantity  of  mileage  they 
respectively  employed,  with  the  total  amount  of  mileage  exe- 
cuted. I  have  accordingly  made  such  a  calculation,  and  the 
following  are  tho  results. 


CHAP.  X.] 


PASSENGER  TRAFFIC. 


159 


TABULAE  ANALYSIS  of  the  Proportion  of  Business  supplied  to  the  Rail- 
ways of  the  United  Kingdom  by  the  several  Classes  of  Passengers 
respectively,  during  the  Seven  Years  ending  June  30,  1849. 


For  twelve  months  ending  June  30,  1843. 

Istclass 19-5 

2d  class 51-1 

3d  class - 29-4 

Totals 100-0 

For  twelve  months  ending  June  30,  1844. 

Istclass 19-4 

2d  class . 47-7 

3d  class 32-9 

Totals 100-0 

For  twelve  months  ending  June  30,  1845. 

Istclass 16-7 

2d  class 43-4 

3d  class 

Totals 100-0 

For  twelve  months  ending  June  30,  1846. 

Istclass 14-9 

2d  class 40-9 

3dcl»ss 44-2 

Totals 100-0 

For  twelve  months  ending  June  30,  1847. 

Istclass 13-8 

3d  class.. " 46-7 

Totals 100-0 

For  twelve  months  ending  June  30,  1848. 

Istclass 12-4 

2d  class 37-4 

3d  class 50-2 

100-0 

For  six  months  ending  Dec.  31,  1848,' 

Is t  clas » 19-3 

class '38-5 

3d  class -..  42-2 


100-0 


Totals.. 


Number  of 

each  Class 

in  every  100 

booked. 


Share  of  each 
Class  in  every 
100  Miles  trav- 
eled. 


31-5 
45-7 
22-8 


31-5 
42-9 
25-6 


27-9 
40-1 
32-0 


24-1 
41-1 
34-8 


21-5 
38-6 


19-8 
38-4 
41-8 


11-8 
38-6 
49-6 


160  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  X. 

Hence  it  appears  that  in  every  point  of  view  in  which  the 
business  of  a  railway  can  be  considered,  the  two  inferior  class 
passengers  form  its  chief  source. 

The  business  consists  conjointly,  as  has  been  already  shown, 
in  that  of  the  stations  and  that  of  the  road  :  in  the  reception, 
registration,  and  embarkation,  and  in  the  discharge  and  disem- 
barkation, which  constitute  the  business  of  the  stations  ;  and  in 
the  transport,  properly  so  called,  which  constitutes  the  business 
of  the  road.  The  former  is  in  the  ratio  of  the  number  of  pas- 
sengers booked,  irrespective  of  the  distances  they  are  carried  ; 
the  latter,  on  the  contrary,  is  in  the, direct  ratio  of  their  average 
mileage,  or  the  distance  they  are  carried,  irrespective  of  their 
number.  Accordingly,  it  follows  that  the  numbers  in  the  first 
column  of  the  above  table,  are  the  moduli  of  the  business  trans- 
acted in  the  stations,  and  those  in  the  second  column  the  moduli 
of  the  business  transacted  on  the  road. 

Taking  the  average  of  all  the  results,  it  may  be  stated  that 
the  business  supplied  to  the  stations  by  the  three  classes  of 
passengers,  first,  second,  and  third,  is  in  the  ratio  of  the  num- 
bers, 1,  3,  and  4;  and,  consequently,  that  the  second  and  third- 
class  passengers  collectively  supply  seven-eighths  of  the  entire 
business. 

It  appears  also  from  the  second  column,  that  the  same  pre- 
dominance prevails  with  the  inferior  classes  in  supplying  the 
business  of  the  road.  The  mileage  employed  by  the  second 
class  is  double  that  of  the  first,  and  the  mileage  employed  by 
the  third  class  is  two  and  a  quarter  times  that  of  the  first ;  the 
relative  proportion  of  transport  among  the  three  classes  being 
as  the  numbers  4,  8,  and  9,  very  nearly.  The  second  and  third 
classes  collectively,  therefore,  employ  more  than  four-fifths  of 
the  mileage. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  relative  proportion  of  third-class 
passengers  to  the  other  classes  underwent  a  considerable  aug- 
mentation from  1845  to  1847.  The  causes  of  this  are  easily 
explained.  Previously  to  1846,  the  carriages  provided  for  third- 
class  passengers  were  frequently  without  roofs  or  windows. 
The  third-class  trains  were  started  at  inconvenient  hours,  and 
were  transported  at  a  comparatively  slow  rate.  In  fact,  the 
companies  appeared  to  study  the  means  which  were  most  likely 
to  discourage  the  use  of  these  cheap  trains,  prompted  apparently 
by  the  apprehension  that,  the  more  affluent  classes  resorting  to 
them,  the  revenue  and  the  profits  from  the  other  trains  would  be 
diminished.  By  these  means  the  laboring  classes  were  in  a 


CHAP.  X.]  PASSENGER  TRAFFIC.  161 

great  measure  deprived  of  the  benefits  of  this  mode  of 
transport. 

The  attention  of  the  legislature  was  called  to  this  in  1845, 
when  an  act  was  passed  with  a  view  to  secure  to  the  poorer 
classes  the  means  of  traveling  by  railway  at  moderate  fares,  and 
in  carriages  in  which  they  might  be  protected  from  the  weather 
It  is  incumbent  upon  all  railway  companies  to  whom  the  act 
extends,  to  provide,  by  one  train,  at  the  least,  on  every  week- 
day, and  also  on  Sundays  (if  they  work  on  that  day),  a  convey- 
ance for  third-class  passengers  to  and  from  the  terminal,  and 
other  ordinary  passenger  stations  of  the  railway. 

The  hour  at  which  this  train  starts  is  regulated  by  the  com- 
missioners. 

The  train  must  travel  at  an  average  rate  of  speed  not  less 
than  twelve  miles  an  hour  for  the  whole  distance  traveled,  in- 
cluding stoppages.  It  must  take  up  and  set  down  passengers  at 
every  passenger  station. 

The  carriages  must  be  provided  with  seats,  and  protected 
from  the  weather  in  a  manner  satisfactory  to  the  commissioners. 

The  charge  is  not  to  exceed  a  penny  a  mile. 

There  are  provisions  as  to  luggage,  and  children  under  three 
years  of  age  are  to  be  taken  without  charge,  and  above  three 
years  and  under  twelve,  at  half  the  charge  for  an  adult  passenger. 

The  carriages  that  have  been  approved  of  by  the  commission- 
ers for  the  conveyance  of  third-class  passengers  are  generally 
commodious,  protected  from  the  weather,  lighted  and  ventilated, 
and  in  many  instances  provided  with  lights  at  night,  although 
this  is  not  required  by  the  act. 

The  fares  in  no  case  have  been  allowed  to  exceed  Id.  per 
mile  (and  some  companies  are  in  the  habit  of  charging  less). 
The  regulations  of  the  act  in  reference  to  the  weight  of  luggage 
allowed  to  passengers,  and  the  fares  to  be  charged  for  children, 
have  been  enforced,  and  are,  in  most  cases,  in  conformity  with 
the  suggestions  of  the  commissioners,  stated  in  the  printed 
time-tables  of  the  railway  companies. 

These  regulations  were  immediately  followed  by  the  great 
increase  of  the  relative  proportion  of  third-class  passengers, 
exhibited  in  the  above  table. 

It  would  be  highly  interesting  and  instructive  to  investigate 
the  proportion  in  which  the  business  of  the  railways  is  supplied 
by  passengers,  classified  according  to  the  distances  they  travel. 
To  accomplish  this,  it  would  be  necessary  to  possess  returns  of 
the  average  mileage  of  the  passengers,  classed  according  to 


162  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  X. 

certain  given  limits  of  the  distances  for  which  they  are  booked. 
I  have  not  obtained  such  a  return  for  the  English  railways,  nor 
am  I  aware  whether  such  data  have  been  recorded ;  but  I  have 
procured  some  from  foreign  railways,  which  will  elucidate  this 
point,  and  which  will  be  found  in  subsequent  chapters. 

On  comparing  together  the  results  of  successive  years,  there 
appears  a  tendency  to  augmentation  in  the  relative  numbers 
of  the  lower  classes  booked,  as  well  as  of  the  mileage  they 
employ. 

It  appears  from  the  table,  p.  154,  5,  that  the  daily  passenger 
service  of  the  railways  has  gradually  augmented  for  the  last  two 
years,  but  in  a  different  ratio  for  different  classes  of  passengers. 

In  the  following  table  (see  page  163)  I  have  exhibited  the 
rate  at  which  the  average  daily  passenger  traffic  has  increased 
since  1843. 

We  perceive  in  these  results  the  same  tendency  which  is 
uniformly  manifested  in  the  progress  of  the  traffic,  to  vastly 
greater  increase  in  the  inferior  than  in  the  superior  class  of 
passenger  traffic. 

It  will  not  be  without  interest  to  compare  the  prodigious  ex- 
tent of  locomotive  service  rendered  by  steam  power  on  rail- 
ways, with  the  amount  of  horse  power  by  which  the  same 
service  would  be  executed.  The  experience  of  stage-coach 
proprietors,  in  business  conducted  on  a  large  scale,  establishes 
the  general  fact  that  a  fast  coach,  traveling  between  any  two 
distant  places  both  ways  daily,  requires  to  work  it  as  many 
horses  as  there  are  miles.  The  average  load  of  such  a  coach  is 
found  to  be  about  two-thirds  <of  what  it  is  capable  of  carrying. 
Thus,  supposing  it  to  be  capable  of  carrying  15  persons  inside 
and  out,  its  average  load  would  be  10. 

These  ten  passengers  would  be  carried  both  ways  one  mile 
per  day  per  horse.  The  daily  locomotive  service  of  a  horse 
thus  working  is  therefore  represented  by  twenty  passengers 
carried  one  mile.  „ 

If  we  would  then  ascertain  the  number  of  horses  which 
would  be  necessary  to  execute  the  service  of  the  railways,  it  is 
only  necessary  to  divide  their  daily  mileage  by  20;  the  quotient 
will  be  the  number  of  horses  required. 

Let  us  take,  for  example,  the  six  months  ending  Dec.  31, 
1848.  The  daily  mileage  of  the  passengers  generally  during 
these  six  months  was  2,866,682.  This,  divided  by  20,  gives 
143,334,  which  would  therefore  be  the  number  of  horses  work- 


CHAP.  X.] 


PASSENGER  TRAFFIC. 


163 


TABLE  showing  the  Rate  at  which  the  average  Daily  Passenger  Traffic 
has  augmented  on  the  Railways  of  the  United  Kingdom,  during  the 
Six  Years  and  a  Half  ending  December  31,  1848. 

Twelve   months   ending 
June  30,  1844. 
1st  class 

Total  increase 
on  the  average  Traffic 
of  1842,3. 

Increase  per  cent,  on 
the  average  daily 
Traffic  of  1842,3. 

Total  In- 
crease of 
Mileage 

Total  In- 
crease of 
Number 
booked. 

Increased 
Percent- 

MHeage. 

Increased 
Percent- 
age of 
Number 
booked 

58,182 
50,150 
75,642 

2,238 
3,482 
6,051 

11-8 
11-1 
13-2 

11-8 

11-8 
11-1 
13-2 

11-8 

2d  class  

3d  class 

Totals  and  averages  

183,974 

11,771 

Twelve    months    ending 
June  30,  1845. 
1st  class 

76,050 
105,231 
225,665 

2,936 
7,307 
18,043 

12-3 
12-3 
19-6 

12-3 
12-2 
19-6 

2d  class  

3d  class 

Totals  and  averages  — 

Twelve   months   ending 
June  30,  1846. 
1st  class 

406,946 

27,286 

14-0 

14-4 

201,434 
423,271 
524,207 

5,341 
16,184 
34,157 

16-2 
19-0 
32-3 

14-3 
14-9 
28-0 

2d  class  

3d  class 

Totals  and  averages  

1,148,912 

55,682 

21-1 

18-7 

Twelve    months   ending 
June  30,  1847. 

149,898 

6,966 
25,085 
43,096 

14-6 
18-0 
37-2 

15-6 
17-7 
32-8 

2d  class 

378,619 
641,589 

3d  class  

Totals  and  averages  

1,170,106 

75,147 

21-3 

21-7 

15-8 
18-2 
42-2 

Twelve   months    ending 
June  30,  1848. 

168,166 
481,338 
800,052 

7,229 
26,796 
60,816 

15-2 
20-2 
43-8 

3d  class  

Totals  and  averages... 

Six  months  ending  De- 
cember 31,  1848. 

1,449,556 

94,841 

24-0 

24-8 

227,330 
631,022 
972,942 

7,955 
34,059 
67,472 

109,486 

16-9 
23-3 
51-0 

27-7 

16-3 
20-4 
45-6 

27-0 

2d  class 

3d  class              .... 

Totals  and  averages... 

1,831,294 

164  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  X. 

ing  daily  in  stage-coaches,  which  would  execute  the  passenger 
traffic  of  the  railways  which  took  place  during  this  half  year. 

It  is  worth  while  to  compare  the  cost  at  which  this  amount 
of  public  service  has  been  performed,  with  that  at  which  it 
would  have  been  effected  by  stage-coaches.  In  making  such  a 
comparison,  it  must  be  observed,  that  railway  transport  presents 
three  sources  of  relative  economy;  1st,  the  saving  of  fare;  2dly, 
the  saving  of  time  ;  and  3dly,  the  saving  of  tavern  expenses  on 
the  road. 

Before  the  establishment  of  railways  on  their  present  scale, 
the  average  fares  of  mail  and  stage-coaches,  including  the  allow- 
ance to  guards  and  coachmen,  which  are  not  chargeable  to  rail- 
way passengers,  were  as  follows 

Per  100  Miles. 
s.    d. 

Mail  (inside) 52  0 

"      (outside) 30  0 

Fast  coach  (inside) 48  0 

"          (outside) 26  0 

The  average  railway  fares  for  the  same  distance  at  present 
would  be  as  follows : 

Fer  100  Miles. 

».   d. 

Per  mail,  express,  and  first-class  trains,  corre- 
sponding with  inside  coach  places 20  0 

For  second  and  third  class 11  0 

Hence  it  follows,  that  for  every  100  miles  traveled  by  first- 
class  passengers  there  is  a  saving  in  the  fare  amounting  to  30s., 
and  for  every  passenger  of  the  inferior  classes  there  is  a  saving 
amounting  to  17s. 

The  fast  stage-coaches  would  travel,  stoppages  included,  at 
71  miles  an  hour,  and  consequently  would  require  13  hours  and 
twenty  minutes  to  travel  100  miles.  This  distance  would  be 
traveled  on  the  railway,  by  slow  passenger  trains,  in  less  than 
5  hours,  by  the  faster  trains  in  3  hours,  and  by  express  trains 
in  a  still  less  time.  But  let  us  take  it  at  4  hours.  Then  there 
will  be  9-hours  and  20  minutes  time  saved  to  each  passenger  on 
a  100  miles  trip.  Now,  if  we  take  the  value  of  the  time  of  the 
class  who  travel  at  the  average  value  of  6s.  per  working  day  of 
12  hours,  this  will  be  6d.  an  hour,  which  will  make  a  saving  of 
4s.  8d.  for  every  100  miles  traveled. 

Finally,  every  traveler  who  is  detained  long  upon  the  road, 
must  resort  to  taverns  for  refreshment.  If  he  is  13  hours  OD 


CHAP.  X.]  PASSENGER  TBAFFIC.  165 

the  road,  he  will  at  least  take  one  meal ;  many  will  take  two. 
A  traveler,  however,  who  is  detained  only  3  or  4  hours  on  the 
road,  will  take  none.  Let  us  put  down  the  cost  thus  incurred 
at  6d.  per  100  miles  for  each  passenger — a  very  low  estimate ; 
we  shall  then  have  the  following  account  of  the  amount  saved 
to  the  public,  in  the  two  years  ending  June  Sfl,,  1848,  by  the 
railways  in  passenger  traffic,  as  compared  with  stage-coaches, 
supposing  that  such  an  amount  of  traffic  by  such  means  were 
practicable : 

Fares  saved  by  354,083,534  first-class  passengers  <£. 

carried  one  mile  at  3^d.  per  head 5,163,718 

Do.  by  1,357,936,966  second  and  third-class  passen- 
gers carried  one  mile  at  2d.  per  head 11,316,141 

Value  of  time  saved  by  1,712,020  passengers  travel- 
ing 100  miles,  at  4s.  8d.  per  head 399,417 

Tavern  expenses  on  1,712,020  passengers  traveling 

100.  miles,  at  6d.  a  head 42,800 


Total  saving  in  the  two  years  ending  June  30,  1848   16,922,076 

It  will  be  shown  in  a  subsequent  chapter,  that  the  total  sum 
expended  by  the  public  upon  the  passenger  traffic  on  the  rail- 
ways, in  the  two  years  ending  June  30,  1848,  was  c£lO,868,385. 
It  appears,  from  the  above  estimate,  that  the  same  amount  of 
traffic,  if  executed  by  stage-coaches,  including  all  the  additional 
expense  incidental  to  that  mode  of  conveyance,  would  have  cost 
c£27,890,461.  The  saving,  therefore,  by  the  new  mode  of 
transport,  as  compared  with  the  old,  is  about  sixty  per  cent,  of 
the  latter:  or,  in  other  words,  about  seventy  per  cent,  more 
than  the  total  sum  at  present  expended. 

During  the  seven  years  terminating  on  the  30th  June,  1849, 
the  railways  were  in  a  state  of  rapid  development ;  each  year 
added  largely  to  the  total  length  of  railway  open  for  traffic. 
The  augmentation  of  the  amount  of  traffic,  exhibited  annually 
in  the  preceding  tables,  was  therefore  to  be  ascribed  partly  to 
the  increased  length  of  the  railway,  and  partly  to  the  increased 
demand  of  the  public  for  railway  transport. 

Let  us,  then,  compare  the  progress  of  the  traffic  with  the 
progress  of  the  development  of  railways. 

To  accomplish  this,  we  must  obtain  an  estimate  of  the  average 
amount  of  railways  which  were  under  traffic  during  each  suc- 
cessive year.  This  may  be  obtained  by  taking  the  length  of 
railways  open  on  the  last  dny  of  each  year  as  equal  to  the  aver- 


166  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  X. 

age  length  under  traffic  during  each  twelve  months  terminating 
on  the  30th  June. 

In  the  following  table  I 'have  given,  in  the  second  column, 
therefore,  the  length  of  railway  which  was  in  operation  on  the 
1st  January  in  each  of  the  years  specified  in  the  first  column  ; 
nnd  in  the  third  column  I  have  given  the  average  number  of 
passengers  per  day  which  would  have  been  carried  over  each 
mile  of  the  entire  system  of  railways  under  operation,  if  the 
actual  passenger  traffic  were  uniformly  diffused  over  the  whole. 

This  calculation  is  made  by  dividing  the  total  average  daily 
mileage  of  every  class  of  passengers  carried  within  the  year,  as 
given  in  the  table,  p.  154,5,  by  the  numbers  given  in  the  second 
column  of  the  following  table. 


TABULAR  ANALYSIS  of  the  progressive  Development  of  the  Railways  of 
the  United  Kingdom,  and  of  the  Movement  of  Passengers  upon  them 
during  the  Seven  Years  ending  June  30,  1849. 

Miles 
open. 

Number  of  Pas- 
sengers carried 
per  Mile. 

1857 
1952 
2148 
2441 
3036 
3816 
5007 

558 
625 
672 
895 
726 
654 

1844     .     . 

1845  

»                                               1846                .   .. 

it                                              1847 

„                                              1848  

»                            ,,                 1849 

The  numbers  given  in  the  above  table,  while  they  present  an 
astonishing  example  of  the  movement  of  the  population,  indicate 
nevertheless  the  fact,  that  the  increase  of  the  passenger  traffic 
has  not  kept  pace  since  1846  with  the  increase  of  the  railways. 
While  the  absolute  quantity  of  passenger  traffic  increased,  as 
appears  from  the  table,  p.  163,  in  a  rapid  proportion,  the  daily 
numbers  transported  per  mile  of  railway  open  has  undergone  a 
regular  diminution. 

The  last  column  of  the  above  table  shows  the  number  of  pas- 
sengers which  would  have  been  carried  over  each  mile  of  the 
railways  open,  if  the  entire  passenger  business  had  been  uni- 
formly distributed  over  the  whole  extent  of  railways  under 
traffic.  Tndependently  of  this  average  result,  it  would  have 
been  desirable  to  exhibit  the  manner  in  which  the  actual  traffic 
is  distributed,  and  how  it  varies  from  section  to  section  of  tho 
several  lines.  No  data,  however,  by  which  this  can  be  ascer- 
tained, are  extant  among  the  records  of  the  English  railways 


CHAP  X.] 


PASSENGER  TRAFFIC. 


In  succeeding  chapters  will  be  found  some  interesting  results  of 
this  kind,  obtained  on  foreign  lines.  Meanwhile,  in  the  absence 
of  more  detailed  and  satisfactory  information,  I  have  calculated 
the  following  table  of  the  comparative  traffic  per  mile  on  certain 
lines  during  the  year  1846,7. 


A                                                     ' 

Number  of  Passengers  carried 
tioned  Railways  of  the  United 
nding  June  30,  1847. 

daily  on  each  Mile  of  the  under-men 
Kingdom  daring  the  Twelve  Months  e 

Number 
of  Miles 
open. 

Average  Number  of  Passengers 
carried  daily  per  Mile. 

1st 
Class. 

2d 
Class. 

478 
518 
192 
313 
330 
310 
326 
114 
114 
198 
212 

281 

c!L 

345 

206 
305 
358 
305 

17fi 
190 
126 
2)3 
535 
321 

289 

Total. 

428 
245 
283 
135 
182 
85 
190 
229 
175 
108 
976 

3036 

360 
228 
103 
230 
161 
133 
162 
48 
69 
93 
104 

157 

1183 
952 
600 
901 

796 
619 
678 
288 
396 
836 
637 

7-27 

Midland  
London,  Brighton,  and  South  Coast  

S^SSBSI^^" 

York  and  Newcastle  
York  and  North  Midland  

All  the  remaining  Lines  

Total  and  averages  

In  the  following  table  I  have  given  the  rates  at  which  the  total 
passenger  traffic,  estimated  by  its  mileage,  has  augmented  from 
year  to  year ;  the  rate  at  which  the  total  length  of  the  railways 
in  operation  has  augmented ;  and  the  rate  at  which  the  average 
passenger  traffic  upon  them  per  mile  has  varied. 


TABULAR  COMPARISON  of  the  Annual  Rates  of  Increase  of  the  Railways 
in  operation,  the  total  Traffic  in  Passengers,  and  the  corresponding 
Variation  of  the  average  Traffic  per  mile  of  Railway. 

Year  ending  Jane  1844  compared  with 
year  ending  June  1843 

Increased 

Lnafryf 
per  Cent. 

Increased 
Pawenger 
Traffic  per 
Cent. 

Increased 
Traffic  per 

"£T 

Decreased 
Traffic  per 
Mile  per 

19-00 
10-00 

512 

10-05 
13-64 
24-33 
25-69 
33-10 

18-00 
18-28 
51-44 
0-97 
12-70 

12-00 
7-52 
33-20 

Year  ending  June  1845  compared  with 
year  ending  June  1844    
Year  ending  June  1846  compared  with 
vear  ending  June  1845  
Year  ending  June  1847  compared  with 
year  ending  June  1846  
Year  ending  June  1848  compared  with 
year  ending  June  1847  '.  
Year  ending  June  1841)  compared  with 

168  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  X. 

These  results  are  curious  and  interesting.  The  total  passenger 
traffic,  increasing  at  the  uniform  rate  of  18  per  cent,  per  annum 
until  1845,6,  underwent  in  that  year  a  sudden  and  enormous 
increase  of  above  50  per  cent.-,  it  then  stopped  short  and  suf- 
fered no  change  for  12  months,  after  which  it  again  began  to 
increase,  but  at  a  slower  rate  than  that  at  which  it  progressed 
previously  to  1845,6;  notwithstanding  the  length  of  railway  in 
operation  in  1847,8  increased  about  100  per  cent.,  compared 
with  its  length  previously  to  1845,6. 

It  further  appears  that,  in  1845,6,  notwithstanding  the  length 
of  railway  in  operation  was  increased  nearly  14  per  cent.,  the 
average  traffic  per  mile  was  increased  upward  of  33  per  cent. ; 
but  in  the  succeeding  year  the  length  of  railway  in  operation 
being  increased  24  per  cent.,  the  average  traffic  per  mile  was 
diminished  19  per  cent. 

The  reason  of  the  decreased  traffic  per  mile  is  evident.  The 
first  railways  constructed  were  naturally  those  which  were  con- 
ducted through  the  districts  of  most  active  traffic :  the  latest 
were  subsidiary  lines  of  comparatively  less  importance,  and 
having  considerably  less  traffic.  While,  therefore,  during  the 
two  years  1846,8  the  total  amount  of  daily  passenger  traffic 
was  augmented  13  per  cent.,  the  traffic  per  mile  of  railway  was 
diminished  30  per  cent. 

Meanwhile,  however,  the  average  daily  traffic  per  mile  on 
railways,  during  the  twelve  months  ending  30th  June,  1848, 
was  654  passengers ;  the  meaning  of  which  is,  that  if  the  total 
number  of  passengers  daily  carried  on  the  railways  of  the  United 
Kingdom  were  uniformly  diffused  over  the  whole  extent  of  these 
railways,  654  passengers  would  be  carried  over  every  mile  of 
their  entire  length  per  day. 

By  comparing  the  mileage  of  the  passengers  with  the 
mileage  of  the  carriages  by  which  they  are  transported,  we  may 
ascertain  the  average  number  of  passengers  borne  by  each  car- 
riage. 

It  happens,  however,  as  has  been  already  stated,  that  no  direct 
mileage  account  is  kept  for  the  carriages  on  the  English  railways. 
Captain  Huish,  who  has  had  under  his  superintendence  the 
traffic  of  between  600  and  700  miles  of  railway,  being  nearly 
one-seventh  part  of  all  the  railways  of  the  United  Kingdom, 
gives  the  following  estimate  of  the  average  load  carried  by  each 
class  of  passenger  carriage : 


CHAP.  X.]  PASSENGER  TRAFFIC.  189 


X 

Full 
Load. 

Average  Load 
carried. 

Proportion  of  average 
Load  to  full  Load 
per  Cent. 

First  class        ....   

18 

7 

39 

25" 

13 

52 

Third  class 

32 

21 

66 

On  the  foreign  railways,  where  the  mileage  account  of  the 
carriages  is  generally  kept,  we  find  the  results  to  correspond 
very  nearly  with  this.  Thus,  on  the  North  of  France  Railway, 
the  number  of  passengers  borne  by  first-class  carriages  in  1848 
was  7:  they  are  built  to  accommodate  24.  The  proportion  in 
this  case  is  even  less  than  that  which  obtains  in  England,  being 
under  29  per  cent.  In  the  second-class  carriages,  on  the  same 
railway,  the  average  number  of  passengers  was  10|,  and  in  the 
third-class  carriages  19,  the  proportion  in  all  cases  being  less 
than  that  which  prevails  on  the  English  railways. 

On  the  Belgian  railways  the  average  number  of  passengers 
carried  by  the  first-class  carriages  is  8j,  by  the  second-class  12, 
and  by  the  third-class  16|. 

On  the  Orleans  Railway,  similar  computations  show  that  the 
number  of  passengers  in  each  first-class  carnage  is  7T7^,  and  in 
the  second  and  third-class  carriages  213. 

We  may  therefore  take  generally,  as  a  good  practical  estimate, 
not  only  for  England  but  for  foreign  traffic,  the  loads  given  by 
Captain  Huish,  and  assume  that,  in  the  practical  working  of 
railways,  39  per  cent,  of  the  capacity  of  the  first-class  carriages, 
52  per  cent,  of  the  second-class,  and  66  per  cent,  of  the  third- 
class,  constitute  the  average  profitable  load. 

Having  determined  the  average  loads  of  the  respective  classes 
of  carriages,  and  their  average  mileage,  we  can  compute  the 
number  of  carriages  employed  daily  in  executing  the  traffic  of 
the  English  railways. 

It  has  been  shown  (p.  98)  that,  on  an  average,  each  first-class 
carriage  travels  59  miles  a  day,  and  carries  7  passengers;  it 
therefore  executes  a  portion  of  the  average  daily  mileage  of  the 
first-class  passengers,  expressed  by  the  number  7  X  59  —  413. 

In  like  manner,  it  appears  that  every  second-class  carriage 
carries,  on  the  average,  13  passengers,  and  travels  on  an  average 
45  miles ;  it  therefore  executes  a  portion  of  the  average  daily 
mileage  of  the  second-class  passengers,  expressed  by  the  num- 
ber 13  x  45  =  585. 

It  further  appears,  that  the  third-class  carriages  carry  nn  average 
load  of  21  passengers,  and  travel  an  average  distance  of  38  miles; 
H 


170  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  X. 

they  execute,  therefore,  a  portion  of  the  average  daily  mileage 
of  the  third-class  passengers,  expressed  by  38  x  21  =  798. 

We  shall  find,  therefore,  approximately,  the  number  of  the 
several  classes  of  carriages  employed  in  working  the  traffic  of 
the  English  railways  by  dividing  the  average  daily  mileage  of 
the  several  classes  of  passengers,  as  already  given,  by  the  num- 
bers here  calculated. 

To  obtain  the  number  of  the  first-class  carriages,  divide  553,330 
(table,  p.  155),  the  average  daily  mileage  of  the  first-class  pas- 
sengers, by  413,  and  we  find  1340.  In  the  same  way,  to  find 
the  number  of  second-class  carriages,  divide  1,104,388,  the 
daily  mileage  of  the  second-class  passengers,  by  585,  and  the 
quotient  is  1888,  the  number  of  second-class  carriages;  and,  to 
find  the  number  of  the  third-class,  divide  1,208,964,  their  average 
daily  mileage,  by  798,  and  the  quotient,  1515,  gives  the  number 
of  third-class  carriages. 

These  approximate  results,  compared  with  those  already  ob- 
tained by  a  different  process  (p.  Ill),  will  show  that  they  can 
not  be  far  from  the  truth. 


By  present 
Process. 

By  former 

1st  class 

1340 

I486 

2d  class 

1888 

2080 

:: 

3d  class  

1515 

1488 

In  general,  if  the  passenger  traffic  of  a  railway  be  given  or 
estimated,  and  it  be  required  to  determine  the  necessary  carriage 
stock  to  work  it,  supposing  the  capacity  of  the  carriages  and  the 
nature  of  the  traffic  the  same  as  those  which  prevail  on  the 
English  lines,  the  requisite  number  may  be  found  as  follows: 

To  determine  the  requisite  number  of  first-class  carriages, 
divide  the  estimated  daily  mileage  of  the  first-class  passengers 
by  413,  that  of  the  second-class  passengers  by  585,  and  that  of 
the  third-class  passengers  by  798  ;  the  quotients  will  respectively 
give  the  necessary  number  of  carriages  of  each  class. 

In  this  calculation  I  have  assumed  that  the  carriages  are 
similar  to  those  which  prevail  generally  on  the  English  railways; 
the  first  class  being  built  to  accommodate  18,  the  second  class 
25,  and  the  third  class  32.  On  railways  constructed  with  a  wide 
gauge  this  calculation  will  not  be  applicable.  I  have  not  been 
able  to  ascertain  the  average  loads  carried  on  these  latter  roads, 
which  would  require  a  separate  computation. 

By  comparing  the  mileage  of  the  passenger  traffic  with  that 
of  the  passenger  engines,  the  number  of  passengers  of  each  class 
drawn  by  each  engine  or  carried  by  each  train  can  be  ascertained. 


CHAP..X.] 


PASSENGER  TRAFFIC. 


171 


As  an  example  of  this  computation,  I  give  the  following  results 
of  computations  derived  from  the  official  reports  of  the  railways 
therein  mentioned.  The  number  of  passengers  carried  is  in  each 
case  ascertained  by  dividing  the  total  mileage  of  the  passengers 
by  the  total  mileage  of  the  engines. 


TABLE  showing  the  average  Number  of  Passengers  of  each  Class  carried 
by  each  Passenger  Train  on  the  under-mentioned  Railways. 

Belgian  railways,  1844. 

Average  daily 
Mileage  of  Pas- 
senger Engines. 

Average  daily 
Mileage  of 
Passengers 

Number  of 
Passengers  per 
Train. 

2843 

39,079 
68,274 
116,493 

13-78 
.        24-00 
41-00 

2d  class  

3d  class        .-   . 

Belgian  lines,  1845. 

223,846 

78-78 

2575 

38,583 
68,167 
100,666 

15-00 
26-50 
39-00 

2d  class  

3d  class 

North  of  France,  1848. 

207,416 

80-50 

3473 

29,566 
66,643 
114,139 

8-51, 
19-18 
32-86 

2d  class            

3d  class 

210,348 

60-55 

The  results  which  appear  above  for  the  North  of  France  in 
1848  afford  a  curious  illustration  of  the  local  effect  of  the  political 
convulsions  of  that  year  in  France,  the  number  of  passengers 
carried  being  considerably  below  its  normal  amount. 

The  reports  published  by  the  directors  of  the  English  rail- 
ways, and  by  the  Government  Commissioners,  supply  no  data 
from  which  general  conclusions  of  this  kind  can  bo  deduced. 
In  a  few  instances,  the  half-yearly  reports  presented  to  the 
shareholders  have  given  the  mileage  of  the  engines,  and  that  of 
the  passengers  can  be  approximately  obtained  from  a  compari- 
son of  the  receipts  with  the  average  tariff.  I  have  by  these 
means  calculated  the  following  table,  exhibiting  the  relation  of 
the  movement  of  the  passenger  traffic  to  that  of  the  engines  on 
the  railways  worked  by  the  Northwestern,  Great  Western,  and 
Brighton  companies.  The  mileage  of  the  engines  of  the  North- 
western Company  during  the  twelve  months  ending  the  30th 
June,  1849,  was  4,G49,55G,  according  to  a  return  I  have  obtained 


172 


RAILWAY  ECONOMY. 


[CHAP.  X. 


from  Captain  Huish.  Not  having  any  distinct  return  for  the 
half-year  ending  31st  December,  1848,  I  have  taken  half  this 
number  as  representing  the  mileage,  which  can  not  vary  much 
from  the  truth. 


TABULAR  ANALYSIS  showing  the  Relation  between  the  Movement  of  the 
Engines  and  the  Movement  of  the  Passengers  on  the  under-mentioned 
Railways. 

Northwestern,  including 
the  Chester  and  Holy- 
head,    Lancaster    and 
Carlisle,    Kendal    and 
Windemere,  and  North 
Unioo  lines. 
For  half-year  ending  De- 
cember 31,  1848  
Passengers,  1st  class.. 
„           2d  class  .  . 
„          3d  class  .  . 

Totals  and  averages 

Great  Western,  includ- 
ing Bristol  and  Exeter, 
and  South  Devon. 
For  twelve  mouths  end- 
ing June  30,  1847  
Passengers,  1st  class  .  . 
2d  class  .  . 
3d  class.. 

Totals  and  averages 

For  twelve  months  end- 
ing June  30,  1848  
Passengers,  1st  class  .. 
2d  class  . 
3d  class  .  . 

Totals  and  averages 

For  half-year  ending  De- 
cember 31,  1848  
Passengers,!  At  class.. 
„          2d  class  .  . 
"          3d  class.. 

Totals  and  averages 

London,  Brighton,  and 
South  Coast. 
For     half-year    ending 
June  30,  1849  
Passengers,  1st  class.  . 
„           2dclass.. 
„          3d  class  .  . 

Totals  and  averages 

1 

Total  Mile- 

P^ler 

Engine^. 

Number  of 
Passengers. 

Total  MUeage 
of 
Passengers. 

Average  No 
of  Pas- 

'e&Per 

Average 
D  istance 
traveled  by 
each 
Passenger. 

2,324,778 

586,332 
1,437,833 
1,477,411 

33,840,267 
44,827,743 
33,941,960 

14-5 
19*3 
14-6 

57-6 
31-3 
23-0 

3,501,576 

112,619,970 

48-4 

32-2 

2,004,814 

546,862 
2,224,721 
530,569 

21,339,187 
48,939,269 
19,713,692 

10-7 
24-5 

9-8 

39-0 
22-0 
37-2 

3,302,152 

89,992,148 

45-0 

9-4 
22-5 
10-3 

27-3 

2,229,958 

567,878 
2,490,246 
649,777 

20,931,842 
50,324,01  1 
22,952,910 

37-0 
20-2 
35-3 

3,707,901 

94,208,763 

42-2 

8-5 
21-6 
11-7 

25-5 

1,263,956 

.  .* 

267,583 
1,253,060 
422,763 

10,750,878 
27,301.727 
14,733,120 

40-2 
21-8 
34-9 

1,943,406 

52,785,725 

5,632,488 
8,494,080 
7,334,160 

21,460,728 

41-8 

14-2 
21-4 
18-4 

54-0 

27-2 

398,139 

232,807 
483,502 
417,189 

1,133,498 

24-1 
17-6 

18-8 

19-0 

UHAP.  X.] 


PASSENGER  TRAFFIC. 


173 


On  comparing  the  average  distances  traveled  with  those  found 
in  the  table  (p.  158),  it  will  be  observed  that  some  slight  dis- 
cordance prevails.  This  may  be  explained  partly  by  the  circum- 
stance of  the  two  tables  referring  to  different  epochs,  and  partly 
by  their  including  different  lines  of  railway.* 

If  the  average  number  of  passengers  carried  by  each  class  of 
passenger  coaches  were  taken,  the  average  composition  of  the 
trains,  so  far  as  relates  to  the  passenger  coaches,  could  be  de- 
termined from  the  above  results.  Captain  Huish,  in  his  return 
already  quoted,  estimates,  that  on  the  Northwestern  Railway, 
the  number  of  first-class  passengers  carried  by  each  coach  is  7; 
the  number  of  second-class  passengers,  13;  and  the  number  of 
third-class  passengers,  21.  If  the  .same  estimate  be  taken  as 
applicable  to  the  Brighton  Railway,  in  which  the  carriages  are 
of  the  same  magnitude,  we  shall  obtain  the  following  as  the 
numbers  of  each  class  of  carriages  composing  an  average  train : 


Northwestern 
Railway. 

Brighton  Rail- 
way. 

Average  number  of  passenger  coaches 
contained  in  each  train. 
1st  class 

2-07 

2-00 

2d  class  

1-46 

1-61 

3d  class 

0-70 

0-88 

It  must  be  observed  that  the  actual  composition  of  the  trains, 
both  as  regards  passengers  and  passenger  coaches,  differs  from 
this  average,  inasmuch  as  third-class  passengers  and  third-class 
coaches  are  excluded  from  first-class  trains ;  so  that  the  actual 
number  of  first-class  passengei's  taken  in  first-class  trains,  and 
of  third-class  passengers  taken  in  third-class  trains,  will  be 
greater  than  the  above  average  estimates  ;  and  the  same  will  be 
true  of  the  coaches. 

It  must  be  further  observed,  that  these  conclusions  rest  upon 
the  estimate  of  the  average  loads  of  the  passenger  coaches  made 
by  Captain  Huish.  This  estimate  has  been  made,  I  believe, 
from  general  observation,  and  not  from  any  exact  statistical 
record  of  the  mileage :  but  it  is,  nevertheless,  supposed  to  be 
tolerably  correct. 

It  has  been  already  observed,  that  horses  and  carriages  are 
usually  carried  by  passenger  trains. 

*  The  Great  Western,  as  given  in  the  table,  p.  158,  does  not  in- 
clude the  South  Devon. 


174  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  X. 

To  complete  the  analysis,  therefore,  of  the  passenger  traffic, 
we  ought  to  show  how  the  proportion  of  these  objects  of  trans- 
port respectively  is  estimated  and  compared  with  the  movement 
of  the  carrying  and  drawing-stock. 

The  mileage  of  the  horses  and  carriages  transported  is  re- 
corded in  the  booking-office  in  the  same  manner  as  that  of  the 
passengers.  By  comparing  the  mileage  of  the  horses  with  the 
mileage  of  the  horse-boxes,  we  are  enabled  to  calculate  the 
average  load  transported  by  each  horse-box ;  and,  in  the  same 
way,  by  comparing  the  mileage  of  the  carriage-trucks  with  the 
mileage  of  the  carriages,  we  are  enabled  to  determine  the  aver- 
age load  taken  by  each  carriage-truck. 

I  have  given,  as  an  example  of  this,  the  transport  of  horses 
and  carriages  on  the  Belgian  railways  in  1844: 

ANALYSIS  of  Transport  of  Horses  on  the  Belgian  Railways  in  1844. 

Number  of  horses 1,434 

Mileage  of  horses 156.079 

Mileage  of  horse-boxes 93,208 

Average  number  carried  per  horse-box 1'67 

Average  distance  traveled  per  horse 109'00 

ANALYSIS  of  Transport  of  Carriages  on  the  same  Railways  in  1844. 

Number  of  carriages 2,546 

Mileage  of  carriages 229,161 

Mileage  of  carriage-trucks 310,700 

Number  of  carriages  per  truck 0'22 

Average  distance  traveled  per  carriage 90'00 

To  estimate  justly  the  degree  of  accommodation  afforded  to 
the  public  by  the  railways,  it  is  necessary  to  consider  the  fre- 
quency of  departures,  and  the  speed  of  transit.  How  often  per 
day  a  man  of  business  has  an  opportunity  of  starting  for  a  given 
place,  and  within  what  time  he  can  be  taken  there,  are  the  first 
questions  which  every  one  will  ask  whose  time  is  of  value.  Tho 
traveler  for  pleasure  can  choose  his  hour  of  departure  ;  the  man 
of  business  must  depart  at  those  times  which  are  most  compati- 
ble with  his  engagements  ;  and  in  reference  to  that  class  the 
frequency  of  departure  is,  perhaps,  even  more  important  than 
the  speed  of  transport. 

The  railways,  accordingly,  afford  greater  advantages,  as  com- 
pared with  the  former  means  of  transport  by  stage-coaches,  by 
frequency  of  departure,  than  even  by  their  increased  speed. 
If  we  take  the  common  table  of  arrivals  and  departures  on  any 
of  the  great  lines  of  railway,  we  shall  easily  obtain  proof  of  this. 


CHAP.  X.]  PASSENGER  TRAFFIC.  175 

We  find  that  from  the  London  stations  of  the  principal  railways 
there  are  departures  daily  as  follows:  Great  Western,  15: 
Southwestern,  17;  Brighton,  8;  Southeastern,  7;  and  North- 
western, 20. 

The  actual  time  requisite  to  travel  between  any  two  points  of 
a  line  of  railway,  does  not  depend  so  much  on  the  speed  of  the 
train  when  in  motion  as  is  generally  supposed  ;  nor  is  there  so 
much  difference  between  the  velocity  of  the  first-class  trains  and 
that  of  the  slowest,  when  in  full  speed,  as  may  be  imagined. 
The  comparative  celerity  with  which  the  traveling  is  executed 
depends  more  upon  the  number  of  stations  at  which  the  train 
stops,  than  on  its  actual  speed  when  in  motion. 

A  railway  passenger  train  having  a  gross  weight  of  70  tons, 
when  in  full  speed  at  40  miles  an  hour,  can  not  be  stopped,  as 
may  easily  be  understood,  very  suddenly.  It  must  be  deprived 
of  its  enormous  momentum  by  slow  degrees.  In  proportion  as 
it  is  suddenly  stopped  will  there  be  damage  done  both  to  the 
rolling  stock  and  the  permanent  way. 

From  the  moment  that  the  steam  is  cut  off,  and  that  the  speed 
begins  to  be  slackened,  either  by  the  ordinary  friction  and  resist- 
ance of  the  tiir,  or  by  the  aid  of  brakes,  the  momentum  which  is 
lost  is  spent  upon  the  permanent  way  ;  and  tb»«horr.er  the  space 
over  which  it  is  expended,  the  more  severe  will  be  the  action 
upon  the  rails.  It  is  therefore  a  matter  of  economy,  with  re- 
gard to  the  wear  of  the  permanent  way,  not  to  attempt  to  stop 
the  trains  within  too  short  a  distance.  In  all  cases,  stoppage 
produces  a  considerable  wear  and  tear  of  the  rails;  and  hence  it 
arises,  that  the  rails  which  are  adjacent  to  stations,  and  espe- 
cially to  chief  stations  where  trains  of  all  classes  stop,  are  sub- 
ject to  much  more  rapid  wear  than  are  the  rails  elsewhere  upon 
the  road. 

The  distance  within  which  a  train  can  be  conveniently  stopped 
without  acting  injuriously  on  the  rails  will  depend  on  the  velocity 
of  the  train  and  its  weight.  In  any  cas«,  its  average  velocity 
over  that  part  of  the  line  along  which  it  passes,  after  cutting  off 
the  steam  until  it  comes  to  rest,  will  be  only  half  its  full  speed. 

Thus,  if  a  train  moving  at  40  miles  atthour  cut  off  its  steam  at 
half  a  mile  from  a  station,  that  half  mile  will  be  run  over  at  the 
rate  of  only  20  miles  an  hour;  and  the  same  will  be  true  of  the 
space  run  by  every  train  after  its  steam  is  cut  off,  whatever  may 
have  been  its  speed. 

It  is  calculated  that,  in  this  manner,  a  train  loses  upon  an 
a'/erage  about  1|  minutes  in  coming  to  rest  at  each  stoppage; 


176  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [OHAP.  X. 

and  since  an  equal  time  is  lost  in  getting  up  the  speed  at  start- 
ing, it  may  be  stated  generally  that  there  is  a  loss  of  2|  minutes 
in  stopping  and  starting;  and,  if  an  equal  time  be  allowed  for 
standing,  we  shall  have  an  average  of  five  minutes'  delay  for  each 
station  at  which  a  train  stops. 

The  celerity  of  the  fastest  trains  on  the  railways  is  accord- 
ingly obtained  by  causing  them  to  stop  only  at  a  few  principal 
stations;  and  other  trains  of  varying  speed  are  accordingly  so 
regulated,  that  the  slower  trains  alone  stop  at  all  the  stations. 

In  respect  to  their  average  speed,  the  railway  trains  may  be 
resolved  into  four  classes  : 

1st.  The  express  trains. 

2d.  The  mail  trains. 

3d.  The  first  and  second-class  trains. 

•4th.  The  third-class  trains. 

As  an  example  of  the  progress  of  these  different  classes  of 
trains,  we  have  exhibited,  in  the  following  table  (see  page  177), 
the  distances  they  travel  on  some  of  the  principal  main  lines  of 
railway  diverging  from  London ;  the  total  time  they  take  to  com- 
plete the  trip  ;  the  number  of  their  stoppages ;  their  average 
speed,  stoppages  included ;  and  their  average  speed  when  in 
motion. 

The  subject  of  passenger  traffic  ought  not  to  be  dismissed 
without  some  notice  of  the  extraordinary  speed  at  which  it  is 
conducted.,  and  the  consequences  of  this  expedition.  The  pub- 
lic has  become  so  familiar  with  the  announcement  of  such  or 
such  a  trip  being  performed  with  a  speed  of  50  or  60  miles  an 
hour,  that  people  have  ceased  to  reflect  upon  what  the  locomo- 
tive phenomenon  really  is,  which  they  so  flippantly  advert  to. 

The  average  speeds  from  station  to  station,  given  in  the  above 
table,  are  taken  from  the  published  time-tables  of  the  companies, 
and  are  estimated  on  certain  average  conditions ;  but  the  actual 
speed  which  is  frequently  attained  by  the  express  trains  in 
motion,  often  greatly  exceeds  even  the  highest  given  in  these 
tables.  Thus,  a  speed  of  60  miles  an  hour  is  far  from  being 
uncommon  when  in  full  motion,  and  I  have  myself  not  unfre- 
quently  been  carried,  in  experimental  trips,  at  the  rate  of  above 
70  miles  an  hour. 

Let  us  endeavor  to  convey  to  the  unpracticed  reader  some 
definite  idea  of  this  enormous  speed  of  locomotion. 

Seventy  miles  an  hour  is,  in  round  numbers,  105  feet  per 
second ;  that  is  to  say,  a  motion  in  virtue  of  which  tho  paSsen- 


CHAP.  X.] 


PASSENGER  TRAFFIC. 


177 


TABULAR  ANALYSIS  of  the  Movement  of  the  Passenger  TratBc  on  the 
principal  Lines  of  Railway  diverging  from  London,  showing  the  aver- 
age Speed,  Stoppages,  &c.  of  each  Class  of  Trains.  —  N.B.  An  average 
Loss  of  Five  Minutes  is  allowed  for  each  Stoppage,  except  in  particu- 

lar Cases,  where  a  greater  Delay  is  fixed  by  the  Programme.    This  is 
intended  to  include  the  Time  lost  in  coming  to  Rest  and  getting  np 

Speed. 

Name  of  Railway. 

Train. 

H 

Time. 

No.  of 
Stop- 

Average 
SpeedTm- 
eluding 

Actual 

Speed  in 
Motion, 

ii 

pages 

Stoppages. 

excluding 
Stoppages. 

Milci. 

h.  m. 

Milttpcr 
Howr. 

MUeircr 

London  to  Liverpool 

Express  

201 

5  45 

5 

35-00 

37^75 

Express  Mail  . 

201 

6  45 

15 

29-75 

36-60 

Mail  

201 

7  57 

15 

25-25 

31-00 

»                 » 

Istand2d"cl. 

201 

.8    0 

20 

25-10 

31-70 

>» 

3d  class  

201 

14  45 

45 

13-65 

1825 

London  to  Exeter  .  . 

Express  

1934 

4  30 

7 

43-00 

51-60 

Mail  

7  10 

21 

27-00 

36-80 

1 

1st  and  2d  cl. 

193i 

7  15 

25 

26-65 

38-60 

3d  class  

193i 

13    5 

37 

14-75 

19-32 

London    to  "South- 

ampton   

Express  

80 

2  15 

6 

35-60 

45-80 

Mail  

80 

3    0 

11 

26-65 

3825 

1st  and  2d  cl. 

80 

3  20 

13 

24-10 

35-50 

3d  class  

80- 

4  45 

18 

16-85 

24-65 

London  to  Dover  .  .  . 

Express  
Mail  

88 

2  30 
2  30 

8 
5 

35-20 

48-50 
42-10 

» 

Istand2dcl. 

88 

3  45 

15 

523-45 

29-35 

^ 

3d  class  

88 

4    0 

17 

22-00 

30-40 

London  and  Brighton 

Express  

504 

1  30 

1 

33-80 

35-85 

»                  »i 

Mail  

504 

1  30 

3 

33-80 

40-50 

»» 

1st  and  2d  cl. 

504 

2    0 

3 

25-25 

2890 

» 

3d  class  

504 

225 

11 

20-65 

33-80 

Totals  and  averages 

2652 

108  42 

301 

24-45 

32-00 

ger  is  carried  over  35  yards  between  two  beats  of  a  common 
clock.  Two  objects  near  him,  a  yard  asunder,  pass  by  his  eye 
in  the  thirty-fifth  part  of  a  second  ;  and,  if  35  stakes  were  erect- 
ed at  the  side  of  the  road,  a  yard  asunder,  these  35  would  pass 
his  eye  between  two  beats  of  a  common  clock,  and  it  is  scarcely 
necessary  to  say  that  they  would  not  be  distinguishable,  the 
retina  not  being  capable  of  receiving  distinct  successive  impres- 
sions in  so  minute  a  fraction  of  time.  If  the  stakes  had  any 
strong  color,  such  as  red,  they  would  have  the  appearance  of  a 
continuous  flash  of  red  color.  At  such  a  speed,  therefore,  the 
objects  on  the  side  of  the  road  are  undistinguishable. 

When  two  trains  having  this  speed  pass  each  other,  the  rel- 
ative velocity  will  be  double  that,  or  70  yards  per  second ;  and 
if  one  of  the  trains  were  70  yards  long,  ft  would  flash  by  in  a 
single  socond. 

H* 


17 c3  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  X. 

It  will  be  somewhat  curious  to  investigate  the  movement  of 
the  mechanism  of  the  engine,  which  produces  this  extraordinary 


Let  us  suppose  that  the  driving-wheels  of  the  engine  are 
about  7  feet  in  diameter,  and,  consequently,  that  they  measure 
a  little  more  than  21  feet,  or  7  yards,  in  circumference.  These 
wheels  would  revolve  five  times  in  passing  over  35  yards  of  the 
rails;  and  as  this  space  is,  on  the  supposition  we  have  made, 
passed  over  iu  one  second,  these  driving-wheels  must,  neces- 
sarily, at  such  a  speed,  revolve  five  times  per  second.  Now,  to 
produce  one  revolution  of  the  driving-wheels,  each  piston  must 
once  pass  backward  and  forward  in  the  cylinder,  and  its  motion, 
therefore,  must  divide  a  second  into  ten  equal  parts.  On  ar- 
riving at  each  end  of  the  cylinder,  at  the  moment  it  is  about  to 
change  the  direction  of  its  motion,  and  to  return,  a  valve  must 
be  shifted  by  which  steam  may  be  admitted  on  one  side  of  the 
piston  and  withdrawn  from  the  other  side.  This  valve  must 
therefore  also  be  moved  ten  times  per  second,  and  must  com- 
plete its  motion  so  rapidly  as  to  form  but  a  small  fraction  of  the 
entire  stroke  of  the  piston,  and  therefore  its  motion  must  be 
computed  by  a  small  fraction  of  the  tenth  part  of  a  second,  and 
this  must  be  done  with  the  utmost  punctuality  and  uniformity, 
otherwise  the  action  of  the  piston  could  not  be  continued.  The 
cylinder  discharges  its  contents  through  the  escape  valve  every 
time  that  the  piston  changes  its  direction,  and  consequently  this 
discharge  must  take  place,  under  the  circumstances  here  sup- 
posed, ten  times  per  second. 

But  there  are  two  cylinders,  and  the  mechanism  is  so  regu- 
lated that  the  discharge  from  the  one  is  intermediate  between 
two  successive,  discharges  from  the  other.  There  are  therefore 
20  discharges  of  steam  per  second,  at  equal  intervals  ;  and  thus 
these  20  puffs  divide  a  second  into  20  equal  parts,  each  puff 
having  the  twentieth  of  a  second  between  it  and  that  which 
precedes  or  follows  it.  The  steam  which  thus  puffs  from  the 
cylinders  is  conveyed  by  a  pipe  to  the  chimney,  where  it  escapes 
upward  in  a  succession  of  blasts,  by  which  the  draft  through  the 
fire-place  is  maintained.  It  is  these  blasts  of  steam  in  the  chim- 
ney which  produce  the  coughing  noise  heard  when  a  locomo- 
tive engine  is  moving  slowly.  As  the  rapidity  augments,  these 
coughs  become  more  rapid,  and  when  the  speed  attains  the 
amount  which  we  have  supposed  above,  there  will  be  20  coughs 
per  second.  The  ear,  like  the  eye,  is  limited  in  the  rapidity  of 
the  sensations  of  which  it  is  susceptible,  and,  active  and  seilsi- 


CHAP.  X.]  PASSENGER  TRAFFIC.  179 

tive  as  that  organ  is,  it  is  not  capable  of  distinguishing  sounds 
which  succeed  each  other  at  intervals  of  the  twentieth  part  of  a 
second  ;  therefore,  when  the  engine  moves  at  such  a  rate,  the 
puffing  in  the  chimney  ceases  to  be  appreciated  by  the  ear, 
although,  as  a  mechanical  effect,  it  continues  to  be  produced  as 
accurately  and  regularly  as  when  the  engine  is  moving  slowly. 

According  to  the  experiments  of  Dr.  Hutton,  it  appeared  that 
the  time  of  flight  of  a  cannon-ball,  having  a  range  of  6,700  feet, 
is  one  quarter  of  a  minute. 

The  velocity  was  therefore  26,800  feet  per  minute,  which  is 
equal  to  5  miles  per  minute,  or  300  miles  per  hour. 

It  follows,  therefore,  that  a  railway  train,  moving  at  75  miles 
an  hour,  not  an  uncommon  speed  for  express  trains  to  attain, 
would  have  a  velocity  only  4  times  less  than  a  cannon-ball. 

The  momentum  of  such  a  mass,  moving  at  such  a  speed,  is 
difficult  to  conceive.  It  would  amount  to  a  force  equivalent  to 
the  aggregate  force  of  a  number  of  cannon-balls  equal  to  one 
fourth  of  its  own  weight. 

The  consideration  of  the  great  damage  done  to  the  railway, 
as  well  as  to  the  rolling  stock,  by  these  extreme  speeds,  is  a 
serious  drawback  to  the  gratification  which  such  wondrous  per- 
formances naturally  excite.  The  fracture  and  wear  of  rails  is 
augmented  in  a  very  high  ratio  with  the  speed;  so  likewise  is 
the  wear  of  all  parts  of  the  vehicles  most  affected,  such  ns 
wheels,  axles,  <fec. 

I  have  shown  that,  at  the  speed  we  have  here  considered,  a 
driving-wheel,  7  feet  in  diameter,  revolves  5  times  per  second  ; 
but  the  bearing-wheels  of  carriages,  wagons,  and  vans  are  in 
general  only  3  feet  in  diameter,  and  sometimes  even  less. 
Now,  if  a  wheel  of  7  feet  in  diameter  revolve  5  times  per  sec- 
ond, a  wheel  3  feet  in  diameter,  proceeding  at  the  same  speed, 
must  revolve  very  nearly  12  miles  per  second. 

This,  therefore,  is  the  action  which  must  take  place  upon  all 
the  wheels  of  the  vehicles  composing  each  express  train. 

The  expense  attending  such  extreme  speed  is  not,  however, 
limited  to  the  cost  which  attends  the  trains  themselves  to  which 
this  motion  is  imparted.  The  whole  traffic  of  the  road  is  more 
or  less  affected  by  it.  All  other  trains  must  be  hurried  forward 
to  get  out  of  the  way  of  the  express  train,  or  detained  in  sidings 
to  wait  for  its  passage. 

From  these  causes  goods  trains,  which  need  not  and  ought 
not  to  move  at  a  speed  of  more  than  16  or  18,  are  frequently 
compelled  to  bo  driven  at  30  miles  an  hour  and  upward. 


180  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  X. 

Their  average  speed  is  made  up  by  undue  speed  when  in  mo- 
tion, for  the  time  lost  waiting  in  sidings  for  the  progress  of 
express  trains. 

The  damage  done  to  the  road  by  these  causes  is  not  merely 
that  which  arises  from  the  undue  speed  which  must  occasionally 
be  given  to  heavy  goods  trains ;  great  damage  is  also  done  by 
the  frequent  stoppages  of  such  trains.  When  they  are  stopped, 
their  momentum  must  be  spent  upon  the  rails  ;  and  when  they 
are  put  in  motion  afterward,  and  momentum  imparted  to  them, 
the  reaction  produced  by  their  driving-wheels  on  the  rails  is 
another  cause  of  most  injurious  wear  and  tear. 

Railway  directors  and  managers  are  deeply  sensible  of  the 
great  damage  sustained  by  the  property  under  their  care  in  con- 
sequence of  these  circumstances,  and  frequent  murmurs  and 
remonstrances  are  heard  upon  the  subject.  The  public,  how- 
ever, appear  to  be  too  exigent  to  be  successfully  resisted.  I 
have  no  doubt,  from  long  and  careful  practical  investigations  into 
the  effects  produced  by  the  action  of  engines  and  carriages  on 
railways,  that  the  damage  sustained  directly  and  indirectly  by 
railway  proprietors  in  consequence  of  express  trains  moving  at 
this  extraordinary  speed,  is  far  greater  than  any  profits  deriv- 
able from  such  trains  can  cover;  and  I  have  no  hesitation  in 
saying,  that,  considered  in  a  commercial  point  of  view,  railwsiy 
proprietors  would  be  fully  justified,  either  in  laying  a  much 
higher  rate  of  fare  upon  express  trains,  or,  which  would  be 
much  more  advisable  and  more  consistent  with  their  own  inter- 
ests, suppressing  them  altogether. 

The  injurious  effects  proceeding1  from  these  causes  would 
have  been  considerably  less,  if  in  the  original  construction  of 
railways  sufficient  width  had  been  left  in  the  bridges,  tunnels, 
and  other  works  of  art,  for  an  additional  line  of  rails.  If  this 
additional  line  of  rails  had  been  reserved  for  the  exclusive  use 
of  the  merchandise  traffic,  and  the  third-class  passenger  trains, 
with  proper  sidings,  the  main  line,  which  now  performs  the 
entire  work  of  the  railway,  being  reserved  for  the  fast  passen- 
ger traffic,  less  inconvenience  and  injury  would  have  arisen  to 
the  railway  property,  and  much  more  expedition,  punctuality, 
and  safety  have  been  insured  to  the  traveling  public. 

We  must  not  dismiss  the  subject  of  express  trains  without 
noticing  the.  danger  of ^ which  they  are  productive.  In  railway 
traffic  the  entire  stream  of  transport  ought  to,  proceed  as  much 
as  possible  with  an  uniform  speed,  so  that  one  part  should  be 
not  liable  to  overtake  another.  The  greater  the  difference  of 


CHAP.  X.]  PASSENGER  TEAFFIC.  181 

velocity  of  the  different  objects  of  transport,  moving  in  the  same 
direction,  and  on  the  same  rails,  the  greater  is  the  danger  of 
collision;  and  the  consequences  of  collision  are  dangerous  in  the 
exact  proportion  of  the  difference  of  velocities  of  the  bodies 
which  strike  each  other.  These  causes  of  danger  and  injury 
are  augmented  to  the  highest  conceivable  degree  by  the  express 
trains.  These  trains  move  with  an  enormous  and  exceptional 
speed.  Collision  becomes  inevitable  unless  a  warning  be  sent 
along  the  line  to  clear  the  way.  Nor  is  it  always  practicable, 
even  with  the  warning,  to  avert  it. 

An  engine  attached  to  a  goods  train,  for  example,  becomes 
lamed  between  two  stations.  It  is  necessary  to  send  on  to  the 
adjacent  station  for  help,  and  notice  must  be  sent  back  to  stop 
the  following  train.  This  notice  may  in  general  be  z-endered 
effectual  to  trains  moving  at  ordinary  speeds,  but  an  express 
train,  moving  at  the  usual  rate  of  such  trains,  can  not  safely 
pull  up  except  within  a  considerable  distance.  The  chances, 
therefore,  of  an  express  train  running  into  a  disabled  train  upon 
the  road  are  very  considerable. 

The  use  of  the  electric  telegraph  diminishes  this  danger; 
but  to  give  notice  by  the  telegraph  a  message  must  be  sent  to 
the  nearest  station,  which  may  be  at  a  considerable  distance. 

It  is  not  without  regret  that  one  would  discourage  the  ardor 
for  improvement  produced  by  wholesome  competition ;  but  it  is 
indispensably  necessary  to  regulate  our  progress  with  discretion, 
and  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  the  safety  of  the  public  is  not 
less  to  be  considered  than  expedition  of  traveling. 

The  public,  in  general,  concerns  itself  very  little  with  the 
question  of  safety.  The  traveler  who  desires  to  reach  a  dis- 
tant point  with  speed,  is  seldom  so  well  informed  as  to-be 
enabled  to  appreciate  the  degree  of  danger  which  must  attend 
the  attainment  of  his  object;  and  it  is  necessary  that  those 
who  have  the  control  and  management  of  railways,  and  who 
alone  are  competent  to  appreciate  the  danger,  should  resist 
this  tendency  in  the  public,  Which  would  impel  the  conductors 
of  railways  into  a  course  attended  with  serious  damage  and 
loss  to  railway  proprietors,  and  with  no  small  danger  to  the 
traveling  public. 


CHAPTER  XL 

GOODS    TRAFFIC. 

THE  transport  of  merchandise  is  the  branch  of  railway  busi- 
ness on  the  due  improvement  and  cultivation  of  which  the 
ultimate  and  durable  success  of  these  vast  enterprises,  and  the 
extent  of  their  public  utility,  will  mainly  depend  :  yet  it  is  a 
branch  which  has  been  hitherto  comparatively  neglected.  The 
brilliant  and  unexpected  results  of  the  business  in  passenger 
traffic  have  not  unnaturally  dazzled  the  public,  and  engrossed 
the  attention  of  proprietors,  directors,  and  managers.  Nothing 
has  been  neglected  which  could  contribute  to  the  extension  of 
this  branch  of  transport,  and  it  may  even  be  questioned  whether 
the  great  expenses  which  have  been  entailed  on  railway  estab- 
lishments in  affording  the  unexampled  accommodation  of  ex- 
treme speed  and  frequency  of  departure  have  been  or  can  be 
adequately  repaid  by  any  practicable  extension  of  the  traffic. 

The  transport  of  goods,  though  presenting  less  striking  phe- 
nomena, is  attended  with  not  less  benefit  to  the  country,  and 
may  soon,  if  duly  cultivated,  become  the  source  of  even  more 
permanent  and  extensive  profits  to  the  railway  establishments. 
But  to  realize  these,  it  will  be  necessary  that  this  branch  of  the 
business  should  receive  a  more  profound  study  on  the  part  of 
railway  managers  than  has  hitherto  been  bestowed  upon  it. 
The  transport  of  goods  is  subject  to  more  various  and  difficult 
conditions  than  that  of  passengers.  If  frequency  of  departure 
and  extreme  speed  are  not  so  imperatively  demanded  for  it, 
the  accommodation  of  the  tariff,  so  as  to  render  the  transport 
compatible  with  the  commercial  conditions  of  the  local  markets, 
is  a  subject  out  of  which  arise  numerous  and  difficult  questions 
for  solution ;  and  on  the  solution  of  these  questions,  and  on  the 
due  regulation  and  graduation  of  the  goods  tariff,  will  depend 
altogether  the  extent  and  the  success  of  this  important  branch 
of  railway  business. 

The  official  reports  of  the  railway  commissioners  and  direct- 
ors, meagre  and  unsatisfactory  as  they  are  with  reference  to 
the  passenger  traffic,  are  much  more  so  relative  to  the  traffic  in 
merchandise.  If  we  have  not  all  the  necessary  details  of  the 


CHAP.  XI.]  GOODS  TRAFFIC.  183 

passenger  traffic,  we  are  at  least  informed  of  the  number  of 
each  class  booked,  the  gross  receipts,  and  the  average  tariff, 
supplying  data  by  which  we  have  been  enabled  to  approximate 
to  those  statistical  details  relating  to  the  transport  which  ought 
to  have  been  supplied  by  direct  and  accurate  records.  We  are 
not  able,  however,  to  do  even  this  with  reference  to  the  goods 
traffic.  The  reports  in  general  supply  no  information  relative 
to  this  branch  of  railway  business,  except  the  receipts,  and  even 
these  are  given  in  a  lumped  sum,  in  which  is  included  the 
revenue  which  proce'eds  from  a  variety  of  objects  not  properly 
included  under  the  head  of  merchandise,  such  as  mails,  parcels, 
private  carriages,  &c. 

To  supply  a  complete  analysis  of  the  goods  business,  it  would 
be  necessary  to  possess  the  following  data. 

1st.      The  quantity  of  each  class  of  goods  booked,  T. 

2dly.  Their  mileage,  t. 

3dly.  The  number  and  description  of  vehicles  employed  in 
their  transport,  W. 

4th.     The  mileage  of  these  vehicles,  w. 

By  comparing  the  first  and  second,  we  should  obtain  the 
average  distance  which  each  unit  of  each  class  of  traffic  is 
carried.  This  would  be  done  by  dividing  the  number  ex- 
pressed by  t,  or  the  mileage,  by  the  number  expressed  by 


By  comparing  the  second  with  the  fourth  we  should  obtain 
the  average  load  carried  by  each  vehicle.  This  would  be  done 
by  dividing  the  number  expressed  by  t  by  the  number  expressed 


. 

By  comparing  the  third  and  fourth,  we  should  obtain  the 
average  distance  run  by  each  vehicle  of  transport.  This 
would  be  done  by  dividing  the  number  expressed  by  w  by  the 

number  expressed  by  W  :  —  (—  j  . 

In  this  way,  all  the  circumstances  attending  the  movement 
of  each  class  of  goods  traffic  could  be  inferred  from  simple  and 
clear  data,  which  might  be  easily  recorded. 

It  would  be  necessary  to  classify  the  merchandise,  first,  ac- 
cording to  the  description  of  vehicle  in  which  it  is  transported  ; 
and,  secondly,  according  to  its  tariff. 

Special  vehicles  are  appropriated  to  different  descriptions  of 
goods,  as  has  been  already  explained  ;  and,  in  order  to  ascertain 
the  cost  of  the  transport  of  each  class  of  goods,  it  would  be 


184 


RAILWAY  ECONOMY. 


[CHAP.  XI. 


necessary  to  keep  a  second  mileage  account  not  only  of  each 
class  of  traffic,  but  of  each  class  of  vehicle  appropriated  to  its 
transport.  The  average  load  carried  by  each  vehicle  would  be 
determined  by  a  comparison  of  these  mileages;  and  upon  this 
average  load  would  depend,  as  will  be  explained  hereafter,  the 
cost  of  the  transport. 

No  general  data  of  this  kind,  or  any  other  data  from  which 
they  can  be  inferred,  are  supplied  in  the  railway  reports. 
Reports  somewhat  more  detailed,  however,  appeared  in  the 
returns  published  by  the  railway  commissioners  for  the  two 
years  ending  June  30,  1846,  and  June  30,  1847  ;  but,  owing 
to  the  discrepancies  which  appear  in  the  returns  of  different 
companies,  and  to  the  different  senses  in  which  they  use  the 
same  terms,  it  is  extremely  difficult  to  deduce  any  general 
inferences  from  them.  I  have,  however,  computed  from  these 
returns  the  quantity  of  goods  and  live  stock,  and  their  total 
mileage,  for  the  twelve  months  ending  June  30,  1847,  which 
are  exhibited  in  the  follwing  table  : 


TABULAR  ANALYSIS  of  the  Quantity  of  Goods  and  Live  Stock  Traffic  on 
the  Railways  of  the  United  Kingdom  for  Twelve  Months  ending  June 
30,  1847. 

Denomination. 

'Quantity  or  Number. 

Mileage. 

Tons. 
Number. 
Do. 
Do. 

16,460,599 
584,287 
2,509,529 
615,214 

370,133,271 
17,692,210 
82,096,451 
34,242,281 

Cattle 

Sheep 

From  this  we  can  infer  the  average  daily  mileage,  the  aver- 
age distance  over  which  each  unit  of  transport  was  carried, 
and  the  average  number  of  such  units  daily  booked.  These 
are  exhibited  in  the  following  table : 


TABULAR  ANALYSIS  of  the  daily  Traffic  in  Goods,  and  of  the  Distance 
carried  on  the  Railways  of  the  United  Kingdom  for  Twelve  Months 
ending  June  30,  1847. 

Merchandise  ........tons 

Average  Number 
of  Units  booked 
daily. 

Average 
daily 
Mileage. 

Average  Distance 
traveled  per  Unit 
booked. 

45,097 
1,600 
6,875 
1,685 

1,014,077 
48,471 
224,922 
93,813 

Jffilca. 
82-5 
30-3 
32-7 

55-7 

Sheep                            „ 

Pigs  and  calves...      „ 

CHAP.  XL] 


GOODS  TRAFFIC. 


185 


The  result  of  this  table  will  be  as  unexpected  as  were  those 
obtained  by  analogous  calculations  with  respect  to  the  passen- 
ger traffic.  The  average  distance  through  which  merchandise 
was  transported,  22£  miles,  is  much  less  than  might  have  been 
expected,  or  than  would  have  taken  place  under  the  operation 
of  a  properly  graduated  tariff.  It  is  evident  from  this,  that  the 
tariff  is  prohibitory  for  a  greater  average  distance  than  about 
20  miles.  It  would  be  interesting,  if  we  possessed  the  requisite 
data,  to  apply  a  like  investigation  to  the  various  classes  of 
merchandise,  so  as  to  ascertain  what  classes  are  transported  to 
the  greatest  distances ;  but  the  reports  supply  us  with  no  data 
for  this  purpose. 

It  is  curious,  also,  that  the  pigs  and  calves  are  transported  to 
an  average  distance  so  much  greater  than  the  cattle  and  sheep. 

As  we  have  already  observed  with  respect  to  the  traffic  in  pas- 
sengers, the  average  distances  which  the  goods  were  transport- 
ed is  found  to  vary,  within  very  wide  limits,  on  different  lines 
of  railway.  I  give,  in  the  following  table,  the  results  of  a  cal- 
culation made  upon  the  returns  for  eleven  different  railways, 
for  the  twelve  months  ending  June  30, 1847,  showing  the  average 
distances  which  each  ton  of  goods  was  transported  on  the  several 
lines  therein  mentioned  in  that  year. 


TABULAR  ANALYSIS  of  the  average  Distances  which  each  Ton  of  Goods 
was  transported  on  the  under-mentioned  Railways,  daring  the  Twelve 
Months  ending  June  30,  1847. 

Name  of  Railway. 

Tons  of 
Goods. 

Total  Mileage. 

Average 
Distance 
carried 
per  Ton. 

1,411,080 
371,327 
1,195,177 
156,930 
236,463 
83,364 
254,038 
148,415 
1,847,689 
446,181 
597,262 
9,712,673 

98,428,462 
19,007,395 
37,626,074 
3,'354,325 
12,493,632 
3,172,898 
8,809,052 
7,023,005 
29,436,800 
12,134,231 
17,974,432 
120,687,965 

69-75 
51-18 
31-48 
21-37 
52-9 
38-10 
34-69 
47-39 
15-97 
27-19 
30-09 
12-32 

Great  Western 

Midland  

London,  Brighton,  and  South  Coast.  .. 

Bristol  and  Birmingham  

London  and  Southwestern 

York  and  Newcastle 

York  and  North  Midland  

Lancashire  and  Yorkshire 

Totals  and  averages  

16,460,599 

370,138,271 

22-50 

Although  we  possess  no  data  by  which  we  can  ascertain  the 
quantity  of  goods  booked  for  any  period  of  long  duration,  nor 
even  any  direct  record  of  the  mileage  of  the  goods  traffic,  we 


186  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XI. 

can  nevertheless  approximate  to  the  latter  by  combining  an  ap- 
proximate estimate  of  the  receipts  with  the  average  tariff  per 
ton  per  mile.  By  subducting  the  estimated  revenue  proceeding 
from  mails,  parcels,  carriages,  and  horses,  from  the  gross  totals 
given  in  the  official  returns  for  them  and  the  goods,  we  obtain 
approximate  estimates  of  the  revenue  proceeding  from  goods. 
It  appears  also  that,  the  average  tariff  being  taken  at  l-67d.  per 
ton  per  mile,  the  annual  and  average  daily  mileage  of  the  goods 
for  the  six  years  and  a  half  ending  Dec.,  1848,  was  as  follows  : 


TABULAR  ANALYSIS  of  the  Goods  Traffic  on  -the  Railways  of  the  United 
Kingdom  during  the  Six  Years  and  a  Half  ending  Dec.  31,  1848. 

Twelve  months  ending  June  30,  1843.   ..  . 
„                        „              1844.     . 
1845.     . 
1846.     . 
1847.     . 
1848.     . 
Six  months  ending  December  30,  1848.     . 

Total  Mileage. 

Average  daily 

Mileage. 

161,865,276 
185,239,340 
262,600,039 
338,674,622 
409,392,412 
530,983,310 
309,118,238 

443,466 
,      507,477 
719,452 
927,876 
1,121,623 
1,454,749 
1,693,798 

Not  possessing  any  return  of  the  quantity  of  goods  booked, 
we  are  unable  to  ascertain  the  average  distances  over  which 
each  ton  was  transported  in  each  successive  year. 

The  comparative  rates  of"  increase  of  the  passenger  and  goods 
traffic  for  the  last  six  years  and  a  half  are  exhibited  in  the  fol- 
lowing table  : 

i 

TABLE  showing  the  comparative  Rates  at  which  the  average  daily  \ 
Traffic  in  Passengers  and  Goods  has  augmented  on  th'e  Railways  of  j 
the  United  Kingdom  during  the  Six  Years  and  a  Half  ending  Decem- 1 
her  31,  1848. 


Total  Increase  on  the 

Increased  Percentage 

of  1S«,3.      "* 

Mileage  of  1*44,3. 

Twelve  months  ending  June  30,  1844 
1845 

Paitengeri. 

183,974 
406.946 

Good*. 
64,011 
275,986 

Fastfngtrt. 

14-0 

Gnodt. 

14-4 

„                    „                   J846     1,148,912 

484,410 

21-1 

109-1 

1847     1,170,106 

678,057 

21-3 

153-0 

1848     1,449,556 

1,011,283 

24-0 

2-28-0 

Sir  months  ending  December  31,  1848     1,831,294 

1,250,332 

27-7 

282-0 

The  results  of  this  table  are  perhaps  more  striking  than  any 
of  the  various  calculations  which  we  have  hitherto  deduced 
from  the  statistical  data  of  railways.  It  appears  from  these, 


CHAP.  XL] 


GOODS  TRAFFIC. 


187 


that  while  the  passenger  traffic,  during  the  period  of  six  years  and 
a  half  previous  to  Dec.  31,  1848,  increased  scarcely  28  per  cent., 
the  goods  traffic  was  augmented  282  per  cent.,  the  increase  in 
the  traffic  of  merchandise  being  thus  tenfold  that  of  passengers. 

It  will  be  also  observed,  that  in  the  year  1847,  compared  with 
1846,  while  no  increase  took  place  on  the  passenger  traffic,  there 
was  an  increase  of  44  per  cent,  on  the  goods  traffic. 

If  a  proper  record  had  been  kept  of  the  mileage  of  the  various 
classes  of  the  goods-carrying  stock,  we  should  have  been  able, 
by  a  comparison  of  this  with  the  mileage  of  the  goods  themselves, 
to  infer  with  accuracy  the  average  amount  of  useful  load  carried 
by  each  class  of  vehicle ;  but  no  such  mileage  having  been  ob- 
served or  recorded,  we  are  forced  to  accept  the  best  estimates, 
rough  and  approximate  as  they  are,  which  can  be  obtained. 

It  has  been  already  observed  that  Capt.  Huish,  by  extensive 
observations  made  on  the  goods  traffic  of  the  Northwestern 
Railway,  has  found  that  the  average  loads  of  the  goods  wagons 
which  arrive  at  and  depart  from  the  chief  station  of  that  railway 
is  21  tons.  If,  in  the  absence  of  more  accurate  returns,  we 
adopt  this  as  the  general  estimate  of  the  average  loads  of  the 
goods  wagons,  we  can  deduce  their  average  mileage  by  dividing 
the  mileage  of  the  goods  themselves  by  21. 

It  appears  also,  as  we  have  shown  in  Chap.  VI.,  from  the 
report  of  Capt.  Huish,  that  the  average  number  of  wagons 
forming  a  goods  train  on  the  Northwestern  lines  of  railway  is 
26.  But  it  is  probable,  from  the  very  active  traffic  of  these 
lines,  that  this  is  above  the  general  average.  We  shall  therefore 
take  the  average  number  of  wagons  composing  a  goods  train, 
upon  the  average  of  all  the  English  railways,  at  22. 

In  the  following  table  I  have  exhibited  the  mileage  of  the 
goods-carrying  stock  and  that  of  the  goods  engines,  calculating 
each  approximately  in  this  manner : 


TABULAR  ANALYSIS  showing  the   Total   daily   Mileage   of  the   Goods 
Wagons  and  of  the  Goods  Engines  on  the  English  Railways  for  Six 
Years  and  a  Half  ending  December  31,  1848. 

Twelve  months  ending   The  30,  1343..   . 
„                         ,.              1844..    . 
1845..    . 
1846..    . 
1847..    . 
„              1848  
Six  months  ending  December  31,  1848  

Total  daily 
Mileage  of 
Goods  Wagons. 

Total  daily 
Mileage  of 
Goods  Engines. 

197,096 
255,544 
319,756 
412,388 
498,500 
646,556 
75-3,796 

8,959 
11,615 
14,535 
18,745 
22,659 
29,389 
34,218 

188 


RAILWAY  ECONOMY. 


[CHAP.  XI. 


Thus  it  appears  that  the  distances  traveled  daily  by  the  goods 
trains  on  the  English  railways  during  the  last  six  months  of  1848, 
amounted  to  nearly  once  and  a  half  the  circumference  of  the 
globe. 

It  will  be  interesting  to  compare  this  enormous  amount  of 
transport  of  merchandise,  as  executed  by  steam  on  railways, 
with  the  amount  of  horse  power  which  would  be  necessary  to 
perform  the  same  service,  were  it  practicable,  by  wagons  and 
common  roads. 

The  experience  of  carriers  shows  that  in  wagon  transport,  a 
horse  must  be  allowed  for  each  ton  of  goods  transported,  and 
that  with  this  power  a  wagon  may  travel  about  20  miles  a  day. 
The  number  of  horses,  therefore,  requisite  to  execute  a  given 
traffic,  will  be  found  by  dividing  the  daily  mileage  of  the  tons 
of  goods  by  20.  Taking,  therefore,  the  daily  mileage  of  the 
goods  for  the  six  months  ending  31st  December,  1848,  we  find 
that  to  execute  it  by  horse  power  in  wagons,  with  a  speed  of 
about  3  miles  an  hour,  would  require  the  employment  of  84,689 
horses. 

Let  us  now  compare  the  progressive  increase  of  the  goods 
traffic  with  the  progressive  development  of  the  railways  during 
the  last  seven  years,  in  the  same  manner  as  we  have  done  with 
relation  to  the  passenger  traffic  in  the  last  chapter. 

In  the  following  table  I  have  given,  in  the  second  column,  as 
before,  the  length  of  railway  which  was  under  traffic  in  each 
successive  year ;  and,  in  the  third  column,  the  average  number 
of  tons  of  goods  per  mile  transported  upon  it,  the  numbers  in 
this  column  being  obtained  by  dividing  the  total  mileage  of  the 
goods  by  the  number  of  miles  of  railway  open. 


TABULAR  COMPARISON"  of  the  progressive  Development  of  the  Hai 
of  the  United  Kingdom   and  of  the  Movement  of  Goods  upon 
during  the  Six  Years  and  a  Half  ending  December  31,  1848. 

ways 
them 

Twelve  months  ending  June  30,  1843  . 
„                                        1844. 
1845  - 
1846. 
„               •                         1847. 
1848. 
Six  months  ending  December  31,1848. 

Miles 
open. 

Numl>er 

carried 
per  Mile. 

II 

£%. 

Decrease 
per  Cent. 

1857 
1952 
2148 
2441 
3036 
3816 
5007 

238 
260 
335 
381 
370 
382 
338 

9-25 

28-80 
13-75 

3~25 

2-90 

n'Bo 

CHAP.  XI.]  GOODS  TRAFFIC.  189 

The  goods  traffic,  therefore,  in  common  with  the  passenger 
traffic,  has  failed  to  keep  pace  with  the  development  of  the 
railways.  It  appears  by  table  p.  167,  that  the  passenger 
traffic  per  mile  continued  to  increase  until  June,  1846,  but  a 
decrease  was  manifested  in  the  year  ending  June,  1847.  The 
same  result  is  obtained  on  the  goods.  In  the  case  of  the  goods, 
however,  there  was  again  a  relative  increase  in  the  twelve 
months  ending  June,  1848,  while  there  was  a  considerable 
decrease  in  the  same  year  in  the  relative  amount  of  passenger 
traffic. 

On  the  whole,  then,  it  follows  that  neither  the  traffic  in 
passengers  nor  goods  has  kept  pace  with  the  development  of 
the  railways,  but  that  the  relative  falling  off  in  the  passenger 
business  has  been  greater  than  that  of  the  goods;  while  the 
absolute  increase  of  the  amount  of  goods  business,  without  ref- 
erence to  the  length  of  railway  open,  has  been  tenfold  that  of 
passenger  business. 

To  give  a  complete  analysis  of  the  traffic,  whether  in  passen- 
gers or  in  goods,  on  any  system  of  railways,  it  is  not  enough, 
however  useful  it  may  be  in  itself,  to  give  general  averages, 
either  in  reference  to  a  given  period  of  time,  as  a  year,  or  in 
reference  to  the  entire  extent  of  the  line  or  lines.  The  traffic 
is  not  only  distributed  unequally  with  relation  to  time,  but  also 
with  relation  to  space.  The  quantity  executed  in  different 
months  is  different,  and  the  quantity  carried  on  different  sec- 
tions of  the  line  still  more  so.  Complete  returns  would  supply 
us  with  data  by  which  we  could  exhibit  the  variation  in  the 
quantity  of  traffic  at  different  epochs,  and  on  different  sections 
of  the  line;  but  none  of  the  returns  published  by  the  English 
railways,  which  are  accessible  to  us,  supply  the  means  of  doing 
this.  As  I  have  often  had  occasion  to  observe,  the  reports  of 
foreign  railways  are  much  more  ample  and  explicit;  and  illus- 
trations of  the  variation  to  which  the  traffic  is  subject,  in  pas- 
sengers and  goods,  in  the  different  months  of  the  year,  and  upon 
the  different  sections  of  the  lines  on  some  foreign  railways,  will 
be  found  in  succeeding  chapters. 

The  statistical  reports  of  the  railway  commissioners  for  1847 
are,  however,  sufficiently  ample  to  enable  us  to  deduce  from 
them  the  average  daily  mileage  of  the  goods  traffic  on  several 
of  the  principal  railways,  so  as  to  afford  some  degree  of  com- 
parison of  the  relative  prevalence  of  the  traffic  in  merchandise 
on  different  parts  of  the  network  of  railways  which  overspread 
tho  country.  In  the  following  table  I  have  given,  in  the  first 


190  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XI. 

column,  the  length  of  the  railways  open,  therein  named  ;  in  the 
second,  the  average  daily  mileage  of  the  tons  of  goods  carried 
upon  them;  and  in  the  third,  the  average  quantity  per  mile  on 
each  line  of  railway. 


TABULAR  ANALYSIS  showing  the  average  daily  Mileage  of  Tons  of  Goods, 
and  the  average  Number  of  Tons  carried  daily  per  Mile,  on  the  under- 
mentioned Railways  during  the  Twelve  Months  ending  June  30,  1847. 

Number 
of  Miles 
open. 

Average 
daily 
Mileage. 

Average 
Number  of 
Tons  car- 
ried daily 
per  Mile. 

428 
245 
283 
135 

182 

85 
190 
229 
175 
108 
976 

269,639 
52,075 
103,085 
9,187 

42,919 

24,132 
19,241 
80,651 
33,244 
49,240 
330,650 

631 
212 
364 
68 

235 

283 
101 
352 
190 
456 
338 

Great  Western  

Midland                                                      .     . 

HESS^}"—  a^*- 

London  and  Southwestern  

York  and  Newcastle       

York  and  North  Midland 

Lancashire  and  Yorkshire  

From  this  table  it  follows,  as  might  have  been  expected,  that 
the  proportion  of  traffic  in  goods  to  the  length  of  the  lines  open 
is  extremely  variable;  on  the  London  and  Brighton  the  traffic 
being  at  the  rate  of  only  68  tons  per  mile,  while  on  the  London 
and  Northwestern  it  is  631. 

The  immense  activity  of  the  traffic  on  the  English  railwaj-s, 
and  the  extent  to  which  it  affords  employment  to  industry,  may 
be  in  some  degree  calculated  from  the  following  statement  of 
the  number  and  class  of  persons  in  the  employment  of  one  com- 
pany alone,  the  Northwestern : 

Secretaries 2 

General  manager 1 

Superintendents 3 

Resident  engineers 2 

Clerks  ...'..' 966 

Police  constables 701 

Engineers  and  stokers 738 

Porters 3,054 

Artificers 3.347 

Laborers 1,452 

10,266 


CHAP.  XII.]  THE  EXPENSES.  191 

The  number  of  horses  employed  in  the  local  delivery  of  goods 
is  612,  and  the  number  of  vans  256. 

This,  however,  is  independent  of  the  goods  establishments  of 
Messrs.  Pickford  and  Chaplin,  the  former  of  whom  employed 
nearly  800  clerks  and  porters,  400  horses,  and  upward  of  150 
vehicles. 

This  company  possesses  438  miles  of  railway,  and  supplies 
the  locomotive  power  for  about  200  miles  more.  It  therefore 
employs  about  23  persons  per  mile  of  its  own  lines. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE  EXPENSES. 

THE  tendency  of  the  progress  of  the  arts  is  to  render  the  cost 
of  production  more  and  more  independent  of  the  quantity  of  the 
article  produced.  In  the  infancy  of  industry  the  application  of 
labor  is  simple,  and  the  quantity  of  production  is  always  in  the 
exact  ratio  of  the  labor  itself.  The  knitter  who  produces  in 
ten  hours  a  pair  of  stockings,  with  the  consumption  of  a  certain 
weight  of  thread,  will  produce  two  pair  of  stockings  in  twenty 
hours,  with  the  consumption  of  double  the  quantity  of  thread  ; 
three  pair  in  thirty  hours,  with  the  consumption  of  three  times 
the  quantity  of  thread,  and  so  on;  and  the  cost  of  the  stockings 
produced,  representing  the  wages  of  the  labor  and  the  cost  of 
the  raw  material,  will  be  in  the  exact  proportion  of  these,  and 
will,  consequently,  be  in  the  direct  ratio  of  the  number  of  pairs 
which  have  been  made.  Thus  three  pairs  will  cost  precisely 
three  times,  ten  pairs  ten  times,  and  one  hundred  pairs  one 
hundred  times  as  much  as  one  pair,  and  so  on. 

But  as  the  art  improves,  and  the  demand  for  stockings  becomes 
more  extensive,  invention  is  stimulated,  and  a  machine  is  con- 
trived and  constructed,  by  which  the  labor  of  the  knitter  is  ex- 
changed for  that  of  the  weaver,  and  the  number  of  pairs  of 
stockings  which  can  be  produced  by  the  same  expenditure  of 
labor  is  largely  multiplied.  Their  cost,  therefore,  so  far  as  de- 
pends on  the  consumption  of  labor,  is  proportionally  diminished. 
But  this  advantage  is  purchased  by  a  large  expenditure,  prepara- 
tory to  the  fabrication,  in  the  construction  and  purchase  of  the 
stocking-loom.  By  this  loom  many  hundreds  of  thousands  of  pairs 
of  stockings  will  be  fabricated;  and  the  cost  of  the  loom,  being 


192  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [OHAP.  XII. 

divided  among  go  enormous  a  number  of  articles,  almost  vanishes 
from  the  pric6  of  any  single  one. 

Another  step  in  the  progress  of  invention  supersedes  the  weaver 
himself.  A  power-loom  is  invented,  by  which  the  process  of 
weaving  is  completed,  independently  of  manual  labor,  by  an 
engine  deriving  its  motion  directly  from  some  physical  agent, 
such  as  steam  or  water. 

As  another  striking  example  of  this  principle,  we  may  refer 
to  the  book  now  in  the  hand  of  the  reader. 

In  the  infancy  of  literature  books  were  multiplied  by  copyists, 
and  their  cost  was  in  the  exact  proportion  of  their  number.  One 
hundred  copies  of  a  book  like  this  would  have  cost  precisely  one 
hundred  times  the  price  at  which  a  single  copy  could  be  procured. 
Movable  types  were  invented,  and  now  a  larger  amount  of  pre- 
paratory labor  and  machinery  is  employed,  before  the  production 
of  even  a  single  copy  can  take  place;  but  when  the 'types  are 
set  and  the  printing-press  ready  to  work,  five  hundred  or  one 
thousand  copies  can  be  produced  at  a  less  expense  than  would 
previously  have  been  incurred  in  the  production  of  a  single  copy. 

The  ultimate  point  of  perfection  to  which  this  progress  tends, 
is  to  render  the  cost  of  production  of  each  individual  article 
precisely  in  the  inverse  proportion  of  the  quantity  produced. 
This  is,  however,  a  limit  to  which  it  is  probable  improvement 
can  never  actually  attain ;  and  the  cost  of  production  of  the 
objects  of  industry,  at  present,  may  always  be  regarded  as  con- 
sisting of  two  parts,  on«  of  which  is  quite  independent  of  the 
number  of  articles  produced,  and  being,  therefore,  equally  divided 
among  them,  will  render  one  element  of  their  price  precisely  in 
the  inverse  ratio  of  the  number ;  but  still  there  will  be  another 
component,  which,  depending  on  the  direct  application  of  manual 
or  other  labor,  and  on  the  immediate  consumption  of  raw  material, 
will  be  in  the  direct  ratio  of  the  number  of  articles  produced. 
The  greater  the  perfection  to  which  art  attains,  the  greater 
will  be  the  former  and  the  less  the  latter  part  of  the  cost.  In 
the  case  of  the  power-loom  above  mentioned,  the  second  element 
of  price  is  reduced  to  the  cost  of  the  raw  material,  labor  being 
very  nearly  if  not  altogether  superseded. 

These  principles  are  illustrated  in  a  striking  manner  by  the 
improvements  which  have  taken  place  in  transport  within  the 
last  century. 

Before  the  construction  of  roads,  the  transport  of  persons  and 
goods  on  pack-horses  was  a  simple  application  of  labor,  and  the 
cost  of  transport  was  in  th&  direct  ratio  of  the  quantity.  Roads 


CHAF.  XII.]  THE  EXPENSES.  193 

were  then  constructed,  and  wheel-carriages  employed.  By  the 
preparatory  cost  thus  incurred,  transport  was  so  facilitated,  that 
the  same  labor  was  enabled  to  accomplish  a  multiplied  quantity 
of  it.  The  cost  of  the  roads  and  the  improved  carriages  being 
divided  among  the  increased  quantity  of  transport,  gave  an  ele- 
ment of  its  cost,  which  was  inversely  as  its  quantity;  but  still 
the  labor  of  traction  remained  simple,  and  was  in  the  direct 
ratio  of  the  quantity  of  locomotion  effected. 

A  further  improvement  produced  the  railway  and  the  loco- 
motive engine.  Here  an  expense  of  an  immense  amount  is  in- 
curred before  a  single  object  can  be  transported.  Extensive 
lines  of  road,  attended  by  works  of  art  of  prodigious  magnitude 
and  cost,  are  formed.  Large  buildings  are  provided  for  stations, 
and,  in  fine,  a  stock  of  engines  and  carriages  is  fabricated.  All 
these  expenses  are  incurred  preparatory  to  locomotion,  and 
must  be  divided  among  the  quantity  of  transport  executed.  In- 
deed, the  mere  labor  or  expenditure  of  mechanical  power  nec- 
essary to  transport  the  objects  of  traffic  from  point  to  point  along 
the  road  forms  the  most  insignificant  item  of  the  entire  cost; 
and  this  item  alone  is  in  the  direct  proportion  of  the  quantity  of 
transport. 

We  should  not,  therefore,  be  far  from  the  truth,  if  we  stated 
that  this  great  improvement  in  the  art  has  reduced  the  cost  of 
transport  in  a  ratio  which  is  very  nearly  the  inverse  of  the  quan- 
tity of  transport  executed. 

When  the  question  was  agitated  which  led  to  the  establish- 
ment of  the  uniform  system  of  postage,  the  public  was  startled 
by  the  paradox  that  the  transmission  of  a  letter  or  dispatch 
was  attended  with  the  same  cost,  whether  it  were  expedited 
ten  miles  or  five  hundred. 

Nevertheless  it  was  demonstrated,  by  the  plainest  principles 
of  arithmetic,  that  the  difference  of  expense  was  a  sum  so  utter- 
ly evanescent  in  amount,  as  to  confer  practical  truth  on  the  prin- 
ciple on  which  the  establishment  of  a  uniform  rate  of  postage 
was  claimed.  In  a  word,  it  was  made  manifest  that  the  cost  of 
transmission  of  letters  was  practically  independent  of  the  dis- 
tance to  which  they  were  conveyed. 

If  any  one  should  maintain  that  the  same  principle  equally  pre- 
vails in  railway  transport,  he  would  certainly  commit  an  error; 
but  any  one  who  should  affirm  that  such  a  principle  had  no  appli- 
cation at  all  in  this  case,  would  commit  a  scarcely  less  grave  one. 

The  transmission  of  letters  and  dispatches  differs  from  the 
transmission  of  persons  and  goods  only  in  the  weight  of  the 
I 


194.  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XII. 

objects  carried.  In  the  one  case  and  in  the  other  there  is  a 
part  of  the  cost  attending  the  transmission,  which  is  quite  inde- 
pendent of  the  expenses  of  transport  properly  so  called,  limiting 
the  term  transport  to  the  mere  locomotion  or  translation  of  the 
person  or  object  from  place  to  place. 

Now,  in  the  case  of  letters,  the  part  of  the  expense  which  is  in- 
dependent of  the  mere  cost  of  conveyance,  bears  so  immense  a  pro- 
portion to  the  whole,  that  the  latter  may  be  wholly  disregarded. 

In  the  case  of  the  transport  of  persons  and  goods  this  is  not 
so,  but  nevertheless,  even  in  this  case,  there  is  an  item  of  the 
expenses  which  has  no  reference  to  the  cost  of  locomotion, 
nnd  which  is  therefore  the  same  whether  the  person  or  thing 
transported  be  carried  ten  miles  or  five  hundred  miles.  This 
item  of  expense,  to  whatever  it  may  be  related,  is  therefore 
independent  of  the  distance,  and  is  chargeable  equally  on  objects 
transmitted  to  great  or  small  distances. 

A.n  analysis  of  the  past  expenses  of  a  railway  may  have  two 
objects — retrospective  and  prospective. 

Considered  retrospectively,  its  purpose  can  only  be  the  adjust- 
ment of  accounts,  an  object  which  has  no  relation  to  our  present 
purpose. 

Considered  prospectively,  such  an  analysis  has  the  most  im- 
portant purposes. 

1st.  It  supplies  the  grounds  of  an  estimate  of  future  expenses. 

2d.    It  supplies  the  basis  of  a  future  tariff. 

To  obtain  an  estimate  of  the  future  expenses  of  a  railway  is 
easy,  provided  the  expenses  of  past  years,  properly  classified,  be 
known.  If  the  circumstances  of  the  traffic  remain  the  same, 
the  expenses  must  necessarily  also  remain  unaltered ;  and  the 
actual  amount  expended  in  the  past  year  may  be  transferred  un- 
changed into  the  estimate  of  the  coming  year. 

But  if  the  circumstances  of  the  traffic,  or  the  extent  of  line 
to  be  worked,  be  changed,  then  modifications  must  be  made  in 
the  estimates  for  each  branch  of  the  service,  in  accordance  with 
the  anticipated  change  in  the  traffic. 

But  the  analysis  required  for  the  second  purpose  above  men- 
tioned, to  supply  the  basis  of  a  tariff,  must  be  one  of  a  much 
more  elaborate  and  a  very  different  sort.  For  this  purpose  it 
will  not  be  sufficient  to  be  informed  of  the  gross  suras  expended 
under  the  usual  heads  of  expenditure,  such  as  direction  and 
management,  way  and  works,  locomotive  power,  &c.  It  will 
be  necessary  to  ascertain,  with  some  degree  of  precision,  the 
expense  which  has  attended  in  past  years  the  transport  of  each 


CHAP.  XII.]  THE  EXPENSES.  195 

class  of  traffic,  such  expenses  being  obviously  the  first  condition 
upon  which  a  tariff  can  be  based. 

It  is  easy  to  understand  that  a  tariff  may  be  constructed  so  as 
to  produce  a  gross  amount  of  receipts  greater  than  the  gross 
amount  of  expenses,  and  thus  on  the  whole  to  yield  an  annual 
profit  to  the  enterprise ;  and  yet  that  such  tariff  may  be  one 
most  unjust  toward  those  who  employ  the  railway,  and  most 
disadvantageous  to  those  who  own  it.  It  is  not  enough  that  the 
tariff  produce,  on  the  whole,  an  annual  balance  in  favor  of  the 
railway.  It  is  indispensable  that  such  a  balance  should  be  pro- 
duced independently  on  each  class  of  objects  transported.  Thus 
it  is  quite  conceivable  that  the  total  receipts  may  exceed  the 
expenses,  while  the  receipts  arising  from  any  one  or  two  classes 
of  objects  of  transport  may  fall  considerably  short  of  the  expenses 
attending  these  branches.  In  such  a  case  the  profit  realized  by 
the  railway  would  result  from  a  balance  of  profit  and  loss,  of  the 
profit  on  one  class  of  transport  more  than  obliterating  the  loss 
on  another. 

Such  a  result  would  arise  either  from  the  exaction  of  a  tariff, 
in  which  some  objects  would  be  overtaxed,  while  others  would 
be  underrated,  or  by  the  railway  undertaking  to  transport  objects 
incapable  of  bearing  the  expenses  of  carriage. 

It  is  clear,  therefore,  that,  to  obtain  from  the  investigation  of 
the  past  expenses  the  conditions  which  ought  to  determine  a 
future  tariff,  it  is  necessary,  not  only  to  classify  the  expenses 
under  the  usual  heads  already  mentioned,  but  to  dissect  each 
branch  of  expenditure,  so  as  to  ascertain  the  share  which  each 
class  of  traffic  has  had  in  producing  it. 

Although  it  may  be  true  that,  in  the  formation  of  a  tariff,  it 
may  not  be  expedient  in  all  cases  to  exact  from  the  various  ob- 
jects of  traffic  the  same  proportion  of  profit,  yet  it  may  be  af- 
firmed, that  it  never  can  be  right,  as  a  permanent  measure,  to 
transport  any  object  of  traffic  at  a  loss.  Now,  how  can  it  be 
known  whether  a  railway  transport  this  or  that  class  of  traffic 
at  a  loss,  or  not,  unless  the  proportion  of  expenses  caused  by 
such  class  of  traffic  is  known  ? 

Again,  the  gross  profits  of  a  railway,  like  all  other  commer- 
cial enterprises,  being  made  up  of  a  large  aggregate  of  small 
profits,  it  will  happen  that  the  amount  of  the  gross  profits  may 
be  increased  by  the  diminution  of  the  small  profits.  Thus,  for 
example,  the  total  profits  derivable  from  passengers  may  be 
greatly  augmented  by  diminishing  the  profit  derivable  on  each 
single  passenger.  There  is  a  certain  point  at  which  the  profit 


196  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XII. 

per  passenger  may  be  fixed,  so  as  to  afford  a  maximum  of 
aggregate  profit.  Above  that  point,  though  the  profit  per  pas- 
senger will  be  augmented,  the  aggregate  profit  will  be  dimin- 
ished, because  the  number  of  passengers  carried  will  be  dimin- 
ished in  a  greater  ratio  than  the  profit  per  passenger  is  aug- 
mented. Below  that  point,  on  the  other  hand,  the  pi'ofit  per 
passenger  will  be  diminished  in  a  greater  ratio  than  the  num- 
ber of  passengers  carried  is  augmented,  and  there  will  be 
again  a  diminution  of  the  aggregate  profits.  The  skill  of  the 
administration  is  evinced  by  so  adjusting  the  tariff  as  to  hit  this 
nice  point;  but  how  can  such  an  adjustment  be  effected,  unless  it 
be  previously  known  what  the  transport  of  each  passenger  costs? 

Like  observations  will  be  applicable  to  every  other  class  of 
objects  transported ;  and  it  is  evidently  indispensable  to  the 
good  management  of  a  railway  establishment  that  those  who 
direct  it  should  be  in  possession  of  a  clear  knowledge  of  the 
actual  cost  of  the  transport  of  each  class  of  traffic. 

But  it  may  bo  objected,  that  this  knowledge  can  only  be  pos- 
sessed for  past  years,  and  that  for  these  it  is  a  matter  of  diffi- 
cult and  intricate  calculation.  It  may  be  further  objected,  that, 
even  when  obtained,  it  does  not  follow  that  the  cost  of  such  trans- 
port for  coming  years  will  be  the  same  as  for  past  years,  since 
the  change  in  the  quantity  and  proportion  of  the  various  classes 
of  traffic  may  change  the  cost  of  their  respective  transport. 

This  is  true;  but  it  is  also  certain  that  the  knowledge  de- 
rived from  an  accurate  analysis  of  the  past  experience  of  rail- 
way traffic  supplies  means  of  approximation  more  or  less  close 
to  the  cost  of  the  future  transport.  In  short,  such  data  enable 
the  managers  of  a  railway  to  make  an  estimate  of  the  cost  of  the 
traffic  for  each  successive  year  sufficiently  accurate  for  practical 
guidance,  and  certainly  accurate  enough  to  prevent  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  tariff  which  would  produce  the  irregularities  and 
inequalities  above  referred  to. 

But  these,  important  as  they  are,  form  but  a  small  part  of  the 
advantages  resulting  from  an  accurate  analysis  of  the  expenses. 
Such  an  analysis  alone  will  supply  the  data  necessary  for  all 
ameliorations  in  the  organization  of  the  management  of  the 
traffic.  For  example,  if  it  be  desired  to  ascertain  whether  it 
be  advantageous  to  attract  increased  traffic  to  the  railway,  by 
multiplying  the  departures  or  increasing  the  number  of  trains, 
a  question  of  a  delicate  and  difficult  nature  arises.  By  multi- 
plying the  departures,  though  the  traffic  will  be  augmented, 
the  load  drawn  by  each  engine  will  diminish  as  well  as  the 


CHAP.  XII.]  THE  EXPENSES.  197 

load  borne  by  each  vehicle.  The  proportion  of  the  profitable 
to  the  dead  weight  will  be  diminished,  not  only  as  regards  the 
engine,  but  ako  as  regards  the  vehicles  of  transport. 

By  diminishing,  on  the  other  hand,  the  number  of  departures, 
the  quantity  of  traffic  carried  will  be  diminished;  but  the  quan- 
tity drawn  by  each  engine,  and  borne  by  each  vehicle  of  trans- 
port, will  be  augmented.  On  the  one  side,  a  gain  is  obtained 
by  the  increased  amount  of  traffic  ;  on  the  other,  a  gain  is  ob- 
tained by  the  increased  ratio  of  the  profitable  load  to  the  dead 
weight.  Between  these  two  a  balance  must  be  ascertained. 
The  point  must  be  established  at  which  the  multiplication  or 
the  diminution  of  the  trains  ought  to  stop.  Now  this  can  not 
be  accomplished  unless  those  who  have  the  opntrol  of  the  rail- 
way are  in  a  condition  to  say  what  the  cost  of  each  object  of 
traffic  is  when  the  trains  are  multiplied,  and  what  the  reduced 
cost  is  when  they  are  diminished.  In  one  case,  the  gain  will 
be  found  by  subducting  the  increased  cost  of  the  diminished 
loads  of  the  more  numerous  trains  from  the  augmented  results 
of  the  increased  traffic.  In  the  other  case,  the  profit  will  be 
estimated  by  subducting  the  diminished  cost  of  the  increased 
loads  of  the  less  multiplied  trains  from  the  diminished  results 
of  the  lesser  traffic. 

Such  instances  might  be  multiplied  without  end. 

The  reader  who  has  not  been  intimately  conversant  with  rail- 
way affairs,  will  probably  be  startled  at  being  told  that,  im- 
portant as  such  an  investigation  is,  it  has  never  been  attempted 
by  the  managers  of  English  railways.  We  are  indebted,  how- 
ever, to  some  foreign  engineers  and  economists  for  inquiries  on 
this  subject. 

The  Belgian  railways,  more  especially,  being  organized  and 
worked  by  the  government  of  that  country,  and  the  most  minute 
details  of  their  expenditure  being  made  public,  have  supplied 
valuable  data  for  such,  inquiry.  At.  Belpaire,  one  of  the  en- 
gineers connected  with  the  department  of  public  works,  has 
made  an  investigation  of  this  kind,  based  upon  the  detailed  ac- 
counts of  the  Belgian  railways  for  1844.  This  inquiry,  which 
is  full  of  valuable  suggestions,  has  been  published  by  order  of 
the  Belgian  government. 

M.  Jullien,  of  the  Paris  and  Orleans  Railway,  has  also  pub- 
lished a  series  of  papers  on  the  distribution  of  the  expenses  of 
a  railway  in  the  "  Annales  des  Fonts  et  Chaussees,"  and  other 
periodicals. 

M.  Teisserenc,   central  commissary  of  government    in  the 


198  RAILWAY  ECONOMY,  [CHAP.  XII. 

French  railway  department;  M.  Prestat,  railway  commissary 
of  the  French  government;  and  M.  Legoyt,  of  the  statistical 
bureau  of  the  Minister  of  the  Interior  of  France,  have  severally 
contributed,  in  various  essays,  to  this  investigation ;  but,  so  far 
as  I  am  informed,  nothing  has  been  done  or  written  in  England 
on  this  subject. 

I  have  therefore  thought  it  would  be  useful  to  devote  a  large 
space  to  the  present  analysis. 

The  problem  which  I  propose,  then,  for  solution,  is  to  ascer- 
tain the  connection  between  the  expenses  incurred  by  a  rail- 
way establishment  and  the  services  which  such  railway  estab- 
lishment performs  for  the  public ;  in  other  words,  how  much  of 
such  sum  expended  by  the  company  ought  to  be  debited  to  this 
or  that  object  of  traffic. 

The  remoteness  of  several  of  the  expenses  from  the  services 
to  which  they  are  ultimately  conducive,  renders  such  an  inquiry 
difficult,  and  the  distribution  of  the  expenses  may  be  in  some 
cases  more  or  less  arbitrary ;  but  still  the  problem  admits  of  a 
solution  sufficiently  definite  for  practical  purposes. 

If  only  one  sort  of  objects  were  transported  upon  a  railway, 
and  all  the  units  of  that  sort  were  transported  over  the  same 
distance,  and  carried  with  the  same  speed,  then  the  distribution 
of  the  expenses  among  the  traffic  would  have  no  difficulty,  how- 
ever complicated  these  expenses  might  be ;  for  we  should  only 
have  to  take  them  in  the  gross,  and  to  divide  their  aggregate 
by  the  number  of  units  of  traffic  transported.  Such  a  division 
would  be  strictly  and  evidently  applicable,  inasmuch  as  pre- 
cisely the  same  service  would  have  been  performed  toward  each 
unit  transported. 

But  suppose  that  the  objects  transported,  though  all  of  the 
same  kind,  are  carried  over  different  distances,  some  being  car- 
ried only  one  mile,  and  some  a  hundred,  we  have  immediately 
a  serious  cause  of  difference  of  cost.  It  will  presently  appear 
that  the  cost  of  transporting  an  object  a  hundred  miles  is  by  no 
means  one  hundred  times  the  cost  of  transporting  an  object  one 
mile.  In  apportioning  the  expenses,  therefore,  it  would  be 
necessary  to  classify  the  objects  according  to  the  distances  to 
which  they  are  transported,  and  to  charge  the  expenses  upon 
them  in  a  ratio  to  be  determined  by  the  influence  which  dif- 
ference of  distance  produces  in  the  expenses  of  executing  the 
transport. 

But  let  us  next  suppose  that  the  objects  transported,  though 
of  the  same  kind,  require  to  be  carried  with  different  speeds. 


CHAP.  XII.]  THE  EXPENSES.  199 

In  this  case  they  must  be  again  divided  into  classes,  inasmuch 
as  the  cost  of  transport  for  the  same  distance  augments  with 
the  speed. 

Let  us  further  suppose  that  the  objects  transported  are  not 
of  the  same  kind,  and,  consequently,  that  they  require  different 
sorts  of  vehicles.  Thus,  suppose  they  consist  of  passengers  and 
merchandise,  all  the  merchandise,  however,  being  still  of  the 
same  kind,  and  all  the  passengers  demanding  the  same  accom- 
modation. It  will  then  be  necessary  to  provide  two  separate 
descriptions  of  carnage  ;  one  adapted  to  the  passengers,  the 
other  to  the  goods.  The  loads  transported  by  these  carriages 
will  necessarily  be  different,  and  their  transport  will  be  attended 
with  different  expenses. 

In  fine,  let  us  imagine  that  the  passengers  to  be  transported 
consist  of  different  classes,  requiring  different  accommodation  : 
some  demanding  a  luxurious  carriage  and  a  superabundance  of 
room,  a  few  only  being  carried  in  each  vehicle;  another  class  re- 
quiring less  accommodation  and  less  luxury,  and  being  content 
to  be  stowed  in  greater  number  in  each  carriage  ;  and  a  third 
class  being  contented  to  be  crowded  together  in  a  sort  of  covered 
van;  and  even  a  fourth  class  demanding  still  less  accommodation. 

Add  to  this,  that  these  various  classes  may  demand  different 
speeds,  and  require  to  be  transported  to  very  different  average 
distances,  and  it  will  become  apparent  how  very  different  will 
be  the  expense  which  their  transport  will  necessarily  occasion 
to  the  enterprise  of  the  railway. 

The  same  observations  are  applicable  to  the  merchandise, 
some  species  of  goods  requiring  to  be  carefully  arranged  in  cov- 
ered vans,  others  promiscuously  packed  together,  while  others 
again,  such  as  minerals  and  the  like,  may  be  thrown  into  open 
wagons  ;  different  species  of  merchandise  requiring  very  dif- 
ferent vehicles,  different  care  of  transport,  and  producing 
different  expenses. 

Live  stock  presents  another  variety  of  transport,  requiring 
another  form  of  vehicle,  and  attended  with  another  class  and 
degree  of  expense. 

The  problem,  then,  which  is  presented  for  solution,  is  to  de- 
termine the  proportion  according  to  which  the  complicated 
expenses  of  a  railway  establishment,  many  of  which  are  so 
remote  from  these  several  services,  that  it  is  extremely  difficult 
to  institute  any  relation  or  connection  between  them,  can  be 
charged  respectively  upon  the  various  objects  of  transport. 

The  first  step  toward  the  solution  of  this  problem  will  obvi- 


200  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XII. 

ously  be  to  make  a  classification  of  the  expenses.  The  basis 
of  such  a  classification  is  supplied  by  the  analysis  of  railway 
business  which  has  been  developed  in  the  preceding  chapters. 
The  expenses  may  then  be  classed  as  follows: 

1st.  The  general  direction  and  management  of  the  establish- 
ment. 

2d.    The  maintenance  of  the  ways  and  works. 

3d.    The  maintenance  of  the  locomotive  power. 

4th.  The  carrying  expenses. 

5th.  The  station  expenses. 

Let  us  then  consider  successively  how  these  several  classes 
of  expenses  are  related  to  the  service  of  transport. 

But  first,  it  may  be  observed  in  general,  that  the  most  im- 
mediate relation  between  the  operation  of  transport  and  the 
machinery  of  a  railway,  is  that  which  exists  between  the  ob- 
ject transported  and  the  vehicle  which  carries  it.  For  each 
class  of  traffic  there  is  a  special  vehicle.  Thus  there  is  a  spe- 
cial class  of  vehicle  appropriated  to  the  first-class  passengers, 
another  to  the  second-class  passengers,  a  third  to  the  third- 
class  passengers.  Again,  there  is  a  special  vehicle  appropriated 
to  the  transport  of  horses ;  another  to  the  transport  of  private 
carriages.  Vans  are  built,  and  internally  constructed  in  a  man- 
ner to  be  suitable  for  the  transport  of  passengers'  baggage  ; 
others  are  appropriated  to  the  transport  of  parcels. 

In  the  goods  department,  in  like  manner,  there  are  also  vehicles 
of  various  forms,  adapted  to  different  kinds  of  goods,  and  to  live 
stock.  . 

The  relation,  then,  between  the  object  transported  and  the 
vehicle  which  carries  it,  being  obvious  and  fixed,  the  connection 
of  the  expenses  with  the  objects  transported,  may,  in  the  first 
instance,  be  determined  by  investigating  the  share  of  the  general 
expenses  which  is  produced  by  the  transport  of  these  different 
classes  of  vehicles ;  and  when  the  cost  of  transporting  any  of 
such  vehicles  per  mile  is  ascertained,  this  cost  can  be  easily 
distributed,  by  a  simple  arithmetical  proportion,  between  the 
average  amount  of  the  load  it  carries. 

Thus,  if  we  know  the  cost  of  transporting  a  first-class  carriage 
a  mile,  and  if  we  also  know  the  average  number  of  passengers 
carried  by  such  carriage,  then  the  charge  per  passenger  per 
mile  is  the  result  of  an  operation  of  common  arithmetic. 

We  shall  therefore  consider,  in  the  first  instance,  how  and  in 
Vv'hat  proportion  each  class  of  expenses  is  chargeable  upon  the 
different  classes  of  vehicles. 


CHAP.  XII.]  THE  EXPENSES.  201 


DIRECTION  AND    MANAGEMENT. 

The  department  of  the  direction  and  management  in  the  or- 
ganization of  a  railway  is  the  executive  government  of  the  enter- 
prise, and  has  a  common  relation  with  all  the  branches  of  the 
service.  Its  special  expenses,  therefore,  might  very  properly 
be  charged  primarily  upon  those  several  branches  in  proportion 
to  the  gross  amounts  of  their  respective  expenses ;  but  it  will 
be  a  more  simple  process,  and  in  its  ultimate  effects  not  less 
equitable,  to  distribute  these  general  expenses  immediately 
among  the  traffic,  by  the  means  already  explained,  of  the 
vehicles  in  which  the  traffic  is  transported.  If,  then,  we  express 
the  general  expenses  of  direction  by  D,  and  the  total  mileage  of 
all  the  vehicles  of  transport  of  every  kind  by  m,  then 

D 

m 

will  express  the  share  of  the  expenses  of  direction  and  manage- 
ment which  will  fall  per  mile  on  each  vehicle. 

This  share,  as  has  already  been  explained,  must  be  subse- 
quently divided  among  the  average  load  of  profitable  traffic 
which  each  vehicle  carries. 

The  details  of  the  expenses,  which  are  understood  to  be  in- 
cluded under  the  direction  and  management,  and  expressed  by 
D,  are  as  follow : 

Maintenance  and  repair  of  the  offices  and  furniture  of  the 
general  direction. 

Salaries  of  directors,  managers,  secretaries,  clerks,  and  super- 
intendents, and  wages  of  all  inferior  agents  and  servants  em- 
ployed in  the  office  of  the  general  direction. 

Printing  and  advertising,  stationery,  and  subscription  to  jour- 
nals for  the  use  of  the  offices. 

Warming  and  lighting. 

Traveling  expenses  of  directors,  managers,  secretaries,  and, 
in  general,  of  all  the  agents  of  the  general  direction. 

In  the  year  1844  these  expenses,  on  the  Belgian  railways, 
were  d£30,477,*  and  the  total  mileage  of  all  the  vehicles  of 
transport  upon  them  was  17,193,658  miles. 

*  It  may  be  necessary  to  state  here  that  the  share  of  the  expenses 
assig»ed  to  the  several  heads  will  not  be  found  to  correspond  precisely 
with  those  given  in  the  report  of  the  Minister  of  Public  Works,  the 
items  being  appropriated,  in  the  present  analysis,  according  to  a  differ- 
ent principle. 

l* 


202  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XII. 

The  charge  per  mile  upon  each  vehicle  for  direction  and 
management  is,  therefore 

2  =  0.4,6, 

m 

It  is  desirable,  but  very  difficult,  to  derive  practical  illustrations 
of  this  calculation  from  the  reports  of  the  English  railways,  the 
meagre  character  of  such  documents  never  supplying,  with  any 
degree  of  accuracy,  the  necessary  data. 

By  the  published  report  of  the  Northwestern  Railway,  it 
appears  that  the  annual  expenses  for  direction  and  management 
have  been  about  ^£32,000.  No  account  of  the  mileage  of  the 
carrying  stock  having  been  published,  we  can  only  estimate  it 
by  combining  the  mileage  of  the  traffic,  as  given  in  Chapters  X. 
and  XL,  with  the  estimated  average  loads  of  the  several  classes 
of  vehicles. 

Captain  Huish  estimates  the  average  loads  of  the  passenger- 
coaches  at  7  passengers  for  each  first-class  carriage,  13  for  each 
second-class  carriage,  21  for  each  third-class  carriage,  and  Si- 
tons  of  goods  per  wagon.  Assuming  these  estimates,  and  com- 
paring them  with  the  total  mileage  of  these  several  classes  of 
traffic,  we  obtain  the  following  as  the  mileage  of  the  carrying 
stock  on  the  Northwestern  Railway  for  the  twelve  months  end- 
ing 30th  June,  1847: 

1st  class  passenger  coaches 8,033,049 

2d  class  passenger  coaches 5,725.411 

3d  class  passenger  coaches 2,568,925 

Goods-wagons ^  43,745,983 

Total  mileage  of  all  the  vehicles  of  transport .   60,073,368 

If  the  expenses  of  direction  and  management  be  taken  at 
c£32,000,  we  shall  have 

£-  £  d 

D__     32,000      ^0.000,533  =  0.128. 


m       60,073,369 

By  comparing  this  result  with  that  obtained  from  the  Belgian 
railways,  we  have  a  striking  example  of  the  effects  of  a  great 
amount  of  traffic  on  the  cost  of  transport.  In  the  case  of  the 
Belgian  railways,  the  mileage  of  the  vehicles  of  transport  was 
only  a  little  more  than  17  millions;  while  on  the  Northwestern 
Railway  this  mileage  was  60  millions. 

While  the  proportion  of  the  mileage  of  the  vehicles  of  trans- 


CHAP.  Xli.j  THE  EXPENSES.  203 

port  was,  therefore,  greater  od  the  Northwestern  Railway,  in 
the  ratio  of  60  to  17,  the  expenses  of  direction  and  management 
were  greater  only  in  the  proportion  of  32  to  30;  and  we  find, 
accordingly,  that  while  the  share  of  these  expenses  chargeable 
per  mile  on  each  vehicle  on  the  Belgian  lines  was  nearly  |J.. 
the  share  chargeable  on  vehicles  per  mile  on  the  Northwestern 
lines  was  less  than  id. 

In  order  to  be  enabled  to  form  an  estimate  of  the  cost  of  direc- 
tion and  management  of  a  projected  railway,  it  would  be  neces- 
sary to  determine  some  relation  between  this  class  of  expenses 
and  some  determinate  element  of  the  railway  establishment.  It 
has  been  proposed  to  express  the  expenses  of  direction  and 
management  by  reference  to  the  length  of  the  line  worked,  by 
stating  it  at  so  much  per  mile.  Such  a  mode  of  estimation  implies 
that  every  augmentation  made  in  the  length  of  the  line  worked 
would  cause  a  proportionate  increase  in  the  expenses  of  direction 
and  management.  Thus,  if  the  annual  expenses  of  management 
of  a  railway  150  miles  in  length  be  d£30,000,  it  would  be  implied 
that  the  same  railway,  having  doubled  its  length,  would  require 
twice  the  number  of  superintending  functionaries,  with  equal 
salaries,  increasing  the  annual  expense  to  ..-£60,000. 

This  is  evidently  a  fallacy.  The  increased  length  will  add 
but  little  to  the  expense  of  management,  certainly  infinitely  less 
than  the  proportion  of  the  increase. 

It  would  be  desirable,  by  comparing  the  expenses  of  manage- 
ment of  the  various  railways  in  operation  with  their  respective 
lengths,  the  mileage  upon  them,  and  other  elements  of  their  ex- 
penses, to  ascertain  with  which  of  these  the  expenses  of  direction 
have  a  determinate  relation  ;  but,  unfortunately,  the  discrepancy 
which  prevails  in  the  manner  in  which  the  published  accounts 
of  the  different  railways  are  made  up,  precludes  the  possibility 
of  such  a  comparison.  The  same  general  terms,  used  in  differ- 
ent accounts,  have  different  meanings,  and  as  no  details  are 
given  it  is  impossible  to  discover  what  items  are  understood  to 
be  included  under  the  same  nominal  heads. 

Thus  direction  and  management,  in  the  accounts  of  one  rail- 
way, will  include  certain  items  of  expense  which,  in  the  accounts 
of  other  railways,  are  transferred  to  other  heads. 

This  is  one  of  the  many  reasons  for  introducing  uniformity 
into  railway  accounts.  Without  such  uniformity  it  will  be  im- 
possible to  compare,  with  any  degree  of  precision,  the  working 
of  any  one  railway  with  the  working  of  any  other  railway,  or 
to  draw  general  conclusions  entitled  to  any  degree  of  confidence. 


204  KA1LWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XII. 

I  find  that  not  only  the  different  statements  of  different  rail- 
ways vary  from  each  other  in  the  Signification  attached  to  the 
same  terms,  but  even  in  successive  half-yearly  reports  of  the 
same  railway,  the  same  heads  of  expense  do  not  include  tho 
same  items. 

Fur  all  purposes  of  a  general  nature,  such  reports  are  utterly 
useless. 

The  expenses  of  direction  and  management  are  probably  de- 
termined by  the  total  amount  of  traffic,  rather  than  by  any  other 
element  in  the  working  of  a  railway.  They  vary  with  the 
prosperity  of  the  enterprise.  When  large  dividends  are  de- 
clared, proprietors  are  disposed  to  be  liberal  to  the  superior 
class  of  functionaries  ;  the  higher  officers  are  more  munificently 
paid,  and  their  number  less  restricted.  However,  this  branch 
of  the  expenses  depends  so  much  on  local  circumstances,  and  on 
conditions  so  peculiar  to  each  individual  enterprise,  that  no  gen- 
eral or  constant  relation  between  it  and  the  other  elements  of 
their  organization  probably  exists. 


THE   WAY    AND    WORKS. 

The  expenses  of  the  maintenance  of  the  way  and  works  con- 
sist of  two  parts,  distinct  from  each  other,  and  depending  on 
different  causes. 

1st.  Those  which  are  appropriated  to  the  repair  of  the  wear 
and  damage  produced  by  time  and  the  vicissitudes  of 
weather,  independently  of  all  action  of  the  traffic  or  use 
of  the  road,  properly  speaking. 

2dly.   Those  which  are  appropriated   to  the   repairs  of  the 
wear  and  damage  produced   by  the  action  of  the  rolling 
stock  and  the  traffic  upon  the  road,  independently  of  any 
effects  of  time  or  the  vicissitudes  of  weather. 
In  railway  accounts  generally,  the   stations,  the  depots  for 
carriages  and  engines,  as  well  as  workshops  for  the  repair  of 
the  rolling  stock,  are  included  under  this  head  of  the  maintenance 
of  the  way.     It  must,  however,  be  clearly  understood  that  they 
are  here  excluded,  being  assigned  to  other  heads.     The  main- 
tenance of  the  stations,  properly  so  called,  is  carried   to  the 
account  of  the  expenses  of  the  stations;   the  maintenance  of 
workshops  for  the  repair  of  the  vehicles  of  transport  is  brought 
to  the  account  of  the  carrying  department;  and  the  maintenance 
of  the  engine  stables  and  shops  is  brought  to  the  account  of  the 
locomotive  department. 


CHAP.  XII.]  THE  EXPENSES.  205 

The  maintenance  of  the  way,  therefore,  must  be  here  under- 
stood to  be  limited  to  the  repairs  of  the  road,  and  the  works  of 
art  upon  it  and  accessory  to  it  exclusively. 

That  portion  of  the  expenses  which  is  appropriated  to  the 
repairs  of  the  class  of  damage  and  wear  produced  by  time  and 
weather,  independently  of  the  action  of  the  traffic,  includes  the 
repairs  of  the  slopes,  of  cuttings  and  embankments,  of  the  sub- 
structure of  the  road,  consisting  of  ballasting  and  drains,  of  the 
renewal  of  the  sleepers,  which  perish  only  by  time  and  weather, 
and  are  not  affected  by  the  rolling  stock ;  also  the  repairs  of 
bridges,  tunnels,  and  viaducts;  the  repairs  of  gates  and  fences, 
and,  in  a  word,  of  all  the  appendages  and  accessories  of  the 
road. 

The  second  head  of  expenses  of  the  maintenance  of  the  way, 
which  is  altogether  independ^nt  of  time  and  weather,  and  de- 
pending exclusively  on  the  traffic,  includes  the  iron  work  of  the 
road,  comprising  the  rails,  chairs,  and  fastenings.  These  owe 
their  wear  and  deterioration  entirely  to  the  mechanical  effect 
of  the  rolling  stock  upon  them. 

The  first  class  of  these  expenses  consists  of  the  following 
particulars : 

1st.  Repairs  of  the  substructure  of  the  road,  and  works  of 
art. 

2dly.  Salaries  and  wages  of  superintendents  and  the  police 
of  the  road. 

3dly.  Materials  consumed  in  such  repairs  and  superintend- 
ence. 

These  expenses  being  independent  of  the  traffic,  are,  like 
those  of  the  direction  and  management,  related  in  common  to 
all  branches  of  the  business  of  a  railway,  and  may  be,  for  the 
same  reasons,  primarily  distributed  among  the  vehicles  of  trans- 
port, in  proportion  to  their  mileage,  and  subsequently  among 
the  traffic  which  they  carry. 

Let  the  total  amount  of  these  expenses  be  expressed  by  W; 
we  shall  then  have,  in  the  same  manner  as  in  the  case  of  the 
expenses  of  direction  and  management,  the  share  chargeable 
per  mile  on  each  vehicle  of  transport,  which  will  be  expressed 

by 

W 


On  the   Belgian   railways   the   expenses   designated   by  W 


206  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XII. 

amounted  in  1844  to  <£68,348.     The  share  of  these  charges 
per  mile  on  each  vehicle  was  therefore 

=  ^003975  =£954 
m  ~    17,193,658 

being  very  nearly  Id.  per  mile  on  each  vehicle. 

An  examination  of  the  annual  expenses  for  the  maintenance 
of  the  way  on  some  of  the  railways,  might  create  an  impression 
that  the  expenses  which  we  have  here  affirmed  to  be  independ- 
ent of  the  traffic,  have  nevertheless  some  dependence  upon  it  ; 
inasmuch  as  it  would  be  found,  by  comparing  these  expenses 
for  several  years  after  a  railway  has  been  opened,  that  they  go 
on  augmenting  while  the  traffic  also  increases.  We  should, 
however,  in  this  case  be  wrong  in  ascribing  the  one  increase  to 
the  other,  as  will  be  made  manifest  by  comparing  the  expenses 
of  maintenance  with  the  traffic,  after  the  road  has  been  a  suf- 
ficient length  of  time  in  operation.  It  ha"s  been  already  ex- 
plained, in  Chap.  III.,  that  for  a  certain  time  after  any  railway 
has  commenced  work,  the  embankments  are  in  a  state  of  pro- 
gressive consolidation,  which  is  accelerated  under  the  pressure 
of  the  rolling  stock.  This  produces  a  constant  source  of  expense 
from  the  readjustment  of  the  rails,  and  ballasting  which  it  oc- 
casions. The  slopes,  also,  until  they  are  carpeted  with  vegeta- 
tion, are  more  apt  to  slip,  and  all  accidental  defects  in  the  road 
and  works  are  developed. 

These  expenses,  however,  which  are  naturally  enough  brought 
to  the  current  account  of  the  maintenance  of  the  road,  must, 
strictly  speaking,  be  regarded  as  a  part  of  the  expenses  of  con- 
structing the  road. 

A  correct  estimate  of  the  current  expenses  of  maintenance 
can  only  be  obtained  after  the  road  has  been  a  sufficient  length 
of  time  in  operation  to  have  become  permanently  consolidated. 

From  a  comparison  of  half-yearly  accounts  of  the  Northwest- 
ern Railway,  the  annual  expenses  of  the  maintenance  of  the  way 
appear  to  have  been  in  round  numbers  c£75,000. 

Taking  the  mileage  of  the  vehicles  of  transport  as  already 
given,  we  have  then 


We  find  here  again  an  example  of  the  diminished  charge  pro- 


CHAP.  XII.]  THE  EXPENSES.  207 

duced  by  the  circumstance  of  the  traffic  being  increased  in  a 
much  larger  ratio  than  the  expenses. 

While  the  expenses  of  maintenance  on  the  Northwestern 
Railway  exceed  those  of  the  Belgian  in  the  ratio  of  75  to  68,  the 
traffic  estimated  by  the  mileage  of  the  vehicles  on  the  North- 
western is  greater  than  on  the  Belgian  lines,  in  the  ratio  of  60 
to  17.  We  accordingly  find  that  while  a  charge  of  Id.  per  mile 
must  be  exacted  from  each  vehicle,  to  pay  the  expenses  of 
maintenance  on  the  Belgian  lines,  T\-^-  are  sufficient  on  the 
Northwestern  lines. 

Let  us  now  consider  the  second  class  of  expenses  of  main 
tenance  above  mentioned,  which  depend  on  the  action  of  the 
traffic. 

These  consist  of  the  wear  of  the  rails,  chairs,  and  sleepers, 
and  may  again  be  subdivided  into  two  classes,  in  reference  to  the 
periods  at  which  the  necessity  for  expenditure  arises. 

The  action  of  the  traffic  produces  from  time  to  time  fracture 
aud  displacement  of  the  rails,  chairs,  and  fastenings. 

These  repairs  are  made  from  year  to  year;  but  besides  these, 
as  has  been  already  explained,  in  Chap.  III.,  the  action  of  the 
traffic  produces  a  gradual  abrasion  of  the  rails,  by  which  they  lose 
weight  slowly  from  year  to  year,  and  in  consequence  of  which, 
at  certain  distant  intervals,  the  entire  iron-work  of  the  road  must 
be  reconstructed.  The  expenses  of  this  reconstruction  are  pro- 
vided for,  as  has  been  already  explained,  by  an  annual  reserve 
fund,  which  constitutes,  therefore,  a  part  of  the  current  ex- 
penses of  the  maintenance  of  the  way. 

The  total  expenses  arising  from  the  wear  of  the  iron-work 
of  the  road  by  the  rolling  stock  may  be  ascribed  to  the  operation 
of  three  distinct  agents  : 

1st.      The  engines  and  tenders. 

2dly.  The  vehicles  of  transport. 

3dly.  The  load  carried  by  each  vehicle. 

An  elaborate  investigation,  based  upon  an  extensive  series  of 
experiments,  has  been  made  on  the  Belgian  railways,  with  a 
view  to  ascertain  the  share  which  each  of  these  agents  has  in 
producing  the  wear  of  the  road.  The  result  of  this  inquiry, 
which  has  been  already  referred  to,  in  Chap.  IV.,  is,  that  for 
every  myriametre  of  distance  run  by  the  rolling  stock,  a  wear 
was  produced,  occasioning  expenses  at  the  following  rates : 

91  centimes  for  each  engine  and  tender. 

1£  centime  for  each  vehicle  of  transport, 
i  centime  for  each  ton  of  load. 


208  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XII. 

It  seems  to  have  escaped  the  notice  of  the  Belgian  engineers 
that  these  figures  are  almost  exactly  proportional  to  the  weights 
of  the  objects  which  produced  the  wear. 

Thus,  an  engine  and  tender,  with  its  complement  of  fuel  and 
water,  would  weigh  nearly  30  tons,  and  the  average  weight  of 
a  vehicle  of  transport  would  be  about  3  tons.  The  above  figures 
are  in  the  ratio  of  30,  3,  and  1.  If,  then,  a  ton  weight,  placed 
in  a  vehicle  of  transport,  produce  a  certain  expense  for  wear  and 
tear  of  rails,  the  vehicle  itself  weighing  3  tons  will  produce  three 
times  such  expense,  and  the  engine  and  tender,  weighing  about 
30  tons,  will  produce  thirty  times  the  same  expense. 

The  distribution,  therefore,  of  these  expenses,  which  has  oc- 
casioned so  elaborate  an  investigation,  is,  as  might  naturally  have 
been  expected,  determined  by  the  proportionate  weights  of  the 
objects  producing  the  wear. 

It  was  found  by  the  result  of  the  Belgian  experiments,  that 
about  one-sixth  of  the  total  annual  expense  for  the  maintenance 
and  repair  of  the  road  represented  that  portion  which  was  due 
to  the  fracture  of  rails,  chairs,  and  pins. 

Let  the  share  of  the  expenses  of  the  maintenance  of  the  iron- 
work of  the  road  due  to  the  operation  of  the  engine  and  tender, 
taken  collectively,  be  expressed  by  W. 

Let  the  share  of  these  expenses  due  to  the  vehicles  of  trans- 
port, taken  collectively,  be  expressed  by  W". 

Let  the  remainder  of  these  expenses,  which  is  due  to  the 
operation  of  the  loads  carried  by  the  vehicles  of  transport,  taken 
collectively,  be  expressed  by  W". 

Let.  the  average  weight  of  the  engine  and  tender,  with  their 
water  and  fuel,  be  expressed  by  a. 

Let  the  average  weight  of  a  vehicle  of  transport,  without  its 
load,  be  expressed  by  a'. 

Let  the  expenses  of  repairing  the  wear  and  tear  of  the  rails 
produced  by  one  ton  weight  rolled  upon  them  be  expressed  by  x. 

It  will  follow  then,  from  what  has  been  stated,  that  if  we  mul- 
tiply the  average  weight  of  an  engine  and  tender,  a,  by  the  total 
mileage  of  the  engines,  which  has  been  already  expressed  by  e 
for  the  passenger  engines,  and  e!  for  the  goods  engines,  we  shall 
obtain  the  number  of  tons  carried  one  mile,  which  are  equivalent 
to  the  weight  and  mileage  of  the  engine  taken  together.  If  this, 
then,  be  multiplied  by  x,  the  expense  of  the  repairs  of  the  wear 
produced  by  one  ton  rolled  one  mile,  we  shall  have 

W  =  x  a  (e  -f  e') ; 
that  is  to  say,  the  total  expenses  of  the  repairs  due  to  the  action 


CHAP.  XII.]  THE  EXPENSES.  209 

of  the  engines  and  tenders  will  be  equivalent  to  the  cost  of  the 
wear  of  one  ton  rolled  one  mile,  multiplied  by  the  product  of  the 
average  weight  of  the  engine  and  tender  by  their  mileage. 

In  the  same  manner,  and  for  the  same  reasons,  if  the  product 
of  the  average  weight  a'  of  a  vehicle  of  transport,  and  the  total 
mileage  m  of  such  vehicle,  be  multiplied  by  z,  we  shall  obtain 
a  product  which  will  be  equal  to  W" ;  so  that 
W"  =  x  X  a'  X  fn- 

Finally,  if  t  express  the  total  mileage  of  the  tons  of  load  car- 
ried by  the  vehicles  of  transport,  we  shall  have 

W"  =  x  X  t : 

in  other  words,  the  expenses  of  repairing  the  wear  produced  by 
one  ton  carried  one  mile,  multiplied  by  the  total  mileage  of  the  load, 
will  be  equal  to  the  total  share  of  the  expenses  due  to  the  loads. 

By  adding  together  the  formulae  obtained  above  for  the  three 
parts  of  the  expense  of  the  repairs  of  rails  due  to  the  engines, 
carriages,  and  loads,  we  obtain  the  following : 

W'  +  W"  + W'»  =  a:x  a  x  (e  +  «')  +  x  x  a'  X  m  +  x  x  <• 

Now,  by  this  formula  it  appears  that  if  the  total  cost  of  the 
repairs  be  known,  and  also  the  weights  and  mileage  of  the 
engines,  vehicles  of  transport,  and  load,  we  can,  by  a  simple 
arithmetical  calculation,  obtain  the  expense,  x,  representing  the 
wear  produced  by  one  ton  passing  over  one  mile  of  the  road. 
This  is  obtained  by  dividing  the  sum  of  the  expenses,  W,  W", 
and  W",  by  the  three  products  obtained  above,  which  are  com- 
bined with  a:  as  a  common  multiplier. 

This  process  gives  the  following  formula  : 

W  +  W"  -f  W" 
~~  a  X  (e  +  e')  +  a'  x  m  +  t ' 

As  a  practical  illustration  of  such  a  calculation  we  will  take,  as 
before,  the  reports  of  the  Belgian  railways  for  1844.  In  that  year 
the  total  estimated  wear  of  the  rails  was  d£3966 ;  so  that  we  have 

W  +  W"  -f  W"  =  3966. 
It  has  been  already  shown  that 

e  +  e'  —  1,584,532, 
m          =  17,193,658, 
*          =33,105,141, 
a          =30, 
a'          =3. 


210  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XII. 

By  substituting  these  numbers  for  the  corresponding  letters, 
we  obtain 

£.  d. 

x  —  6-00003  =  0-0072. 

This  is  therefore  the  expense  of  repair  per  mile  produced  by 
a  ton  weight  of  load. 

The  expense  per  mile  produced  by  an  empty  vehicle  of  trans- 
port will  therefore  be 

£.  d. 

a'  —  3  X  0-0000    =  0-00009  =  0-0216. 

In  like  manner,  the  expenses  per  mile,  representing  the  wear 
produced  by  an  engine  and  tender  will  be 

£.  <£.  d. 

a  =  30  x  0-00003  =  0-0009  =  0-216. 

By  substituting  the  above  values  of  x,  a,  a',  «,  e',  m,  and  t,  in  the 
above  formulae,  we  find 

£. 

W  =68,348 
W  =  1,426 
W"  =  1,547 
W"  =  993 


W  _f_  W  +  W"  +  W"  =  72,314 

Thus  we  see  that  the  entire  expenses  of  the  maintenance  of 
the  road  under  the  regular  operation  of  the  transport  is  re- 
solved into  four  items,  expressed  respectively  by 

W,  W,  W",  W"; 

the  first,  W,  being  that  which  includes  the  expenses  of  the 
entire  staff  of  engineers,  artisans,  and  laborers  employed  in 
maintaining  the  way  and  works,  in  repairing  the  slopes,  em- 
bankments, and  cuttings,  and  the  wear  produced  by  time  and 
the  vicissitudes  of  weather,  on  the  works  of  art  and  on  the  sub- 
structure of  the  road;  the  second,  W,  being  that  portion  of  the 
expenses  produced  by  the  locomotive  engines  and  their  tenders 
alone,  not  including  that  part  of  the  action  of  these  machines 
which  is  caused  by  the  load  which  they  draw ;  the  third,  W", 
that  which  is  produced  by  the  vehicles  of  transport,  including 
the  increased  wear  of  the  locomotive  engine,  which  is  the  con- 


CHAP.  XII.]  THE  EXPENSES.  211 

sequence  of  drawing  them ;  and,  finally,  W",  being  the  in- 
creased expense  due  to  the  wear  of  the  rails  produced  by  the 
weight  of  the  traffic  itself,  added  to  that  of  the  carriages,  aug- 
menting also  the  action  of  the  engine  on  the  road. 

The  first  of  these,  W,  is  obviously  common  to  all  the  traffic, 
and  equally  chargeable  upon  all  the  vehicles  in  which  it  is  borne, 
according  to  their  mileage.  Expressing,  therefore,  the  total 
mileage  of  all  the  vehicles  of  transport  by  m,  the  charge  per 
rnile  on  each  vehicle  for  this  part  of  the  maintenance  of  the 

W 
way  and  works,  will  be  — . 

?H 

The  second,  W,  must  be  brought  to  the  account  of  the  loco- 
motive power,  and  charged  in  common  with  it  upon  the  traffic. 

The  third,  W",  must  be  brought  to  the  account  of  carrying 
stock,  and  distributed  with  the  expenses  of  these  upon  the 
traffic. 

The  fourth,  W",  is  a  direct  charge  upon  the  traffic  in  the 
ratio  of  its  weight  and  mileage. 

We  shall  revert  to  these  severally  hereafter. 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE    POWER. 

The  expenses  of  the  locomotive  power  may  be  classed  as 
follows : 

1.  The  repairs  of  the  locomotive  engines  and  tenders. 

2.  Salaries  and  wages  of  engine-drivers,  stokers,  and  other 

agents,  employed  in  cleaning  and  tending  the  locomotive 
engines  and  tenders. 

3.  Materials  consumed,  such  as  grease,  oil,  coke,  water. 

4.  That  part  of  the  maintenance  of  the  way  which  has  been 

expressed  by  W. 

Let  us  suppose  that  all  the  engines  and  tenders  used  in  the 
service  of  the  railway  are  moved  over  the  road  through  the 
same  distance  as  that  through  which  they  are  moved  in  actually 
working  the  traffic,  but  that  they  are  so  moved  unaccompanied 
by  any  vehicle  or  object  of  transport;  and  let  the  expense  of 
this  movement  be  estimated.  Let  this  expense,  with  all  the 
other  charges  of  the  locomotive  stock  enumerated  above,  be  ex- 
pressed by  L. 

Let  us  now  suppose  that  the  various  vehicles  in  which  the 
transport  is  carried  are  attached  to  the  locomotives,  but  that 
they  are  empty ;  and  let  the  locomotives  be  imagined  to  draw 
these  empty  vehicles  over  the  same  length  of  the  line  as  that 


212  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XII. 

over  which  they  are  drawn  in  actually  conveying  the  traffic. 
An  increased  expense  of  locomotive  power  will  thus  be  pro- 
duced, arising  from  the  increased  power  exerted  by  the  loco- 
motives in  consequence  of  the  resistance  of  the  vehicles  which 
they  draw.  This  increased  power  will  be  represented  by  the 
augmented  consumption  of  fuel,  .oil,  and  grease,  and  the  aug- 
mented wear  and  tear  of  those  parts  of  the  engines  which  are 
immediately  affected  by  the  resistance,  Let  this  addition  to 
the  expense  of  the  locomotive  power  be  expressed  by  L'. 

Finally,  let  us  suppose  that  the  various  objects  of  transport 
carried  upon  the  road  are  placed  in  their  respective  vehicles  and 
drawn  by  the  engines.  A  further  expenditure  of  locomotive 
power  will  now  take  place,  caused  by  the  increased  resistance 
to  the  tractive  power  produced  by  the  increased  weight  drawn, 
and  this  increased  resistance  will  cause  an  increased  consump- 
tion of  fuel,  grease,  and  oil,  and  an  increased  wear  and  tear  of 
those  parts  of  the  engine  which  react  against  the  resistance. 
Let  this  increase  of  the  expenditure  of  the  locomotive  power 
be  expressed  by  L". 

Thus  we  see  that  the  total  amount  of  the  expenses  of  the 
locomotive  power  consists  of  three  items,  which  we  have  ex- 
pressed by 

L,  L',  and  L". 

The  part  of  the  expenses,  expressed  by  L'  is  to  be  brought  to 
the  account  of  the  carrying  expenses. 

The  part  expressed  by  L"  is  to  be  charged  directly  on  the 
objects  of  transport. 

The  expenses  expressed  by  L  are  primarily  chargeable  on 
the  mileage  of  all  the  engines.  Let,  therefore,  the  total  mile- 
age of  the  engines  be  found.  We  have  expressed  this  in  former 
chapters  by  e  for  the  passenger  engines,  and  e'  for  the  goods 
engines.  Thus  e  -f-  e'  will  express  this  total  mileage  ;  and  if 
the  expenses,  L,  be  divided  by  this  total  mileage,  we  shall 
have 

L 
e+e" 

expressing  the  share  of  the  expenses  chargeable  per  mile  upon 
each  engine. 

This  charge  is  now  to  be  transferred  to  and  distributed  among 
the  vehicles  drawn  by  such  engine;  and  here  a  further  classifi- 
cation becomes  necessary,  inasmuch  as  the  average  number  of 


CHAP.  XII.]  THE  EXPENSES.  213 

vehicles  drawn  by  the  passenger  engines  is  different  from  the 
average  number  of  vehicles  drawn  by  the  goods  engines. 

We  must  then  find  first  the  portion  of  the  expenses  expressed 
by  L,  which  is  chargeable  to  each  class  of  engines,  and  then  we 
must  distribute  these  charges  respectively  among  the  mileage 
of  the  vehicles  which  these  engines  draw. 

Since  -  -,  is  the  expense  per  mile  of  each  engine,  we  shall 

find  the  total  expense  of  the  passenger  engines  by  multiplying 
this  by  their  mileage  e,  and  the  total  expense  of  the  goods  en- 
gines by  multiplying  the  same  by  the  mileage  of  the  latter,  e', 
The  total  charge,  therefore,  upon  the  passenger  engines  will 
be  expressed  by 


and  the  total  expenses  chargeable  upon  the  goods  engines  will 
be  expressed  by 


e  +  e' 

Let  us  now  express  the  total  mileage  of  all  the  vehicles  drawn 
by  passenger  engines  by  m',  and  the  total  mileage  of  all  the  ve- 
hicles drawn  by  goods  engines  by  m".  We  shall  find  the  charge 
per  mile  on  each  vehicle  drawn  by  passenger  engines  by  dividing 
the  total  expense  of  the  passenger  engines  by  m',  and  the  total 
expense  chargeable  per  mile  on  each  vehicle  drawn  by  the  goods 
engines  by  dividing  the  total  expenses  of  these  latter  engines 
by  m". 

It  therefore  follows  that  the  expenses  chargeable  per  mile  on 
the  vehicles  drawn  by  passenger  engines  is 

L  e 

mf  (e  +  e') ' 

and  that  the  expenses  per  mile  chargeable  upon  each  vehicle 
drawn  by  goods  engines  is 

Le' 
m"  (e  +  e') ' 

This  charge  must  be  divided  among  the  traffic  carried  by  these 
vehicles  respectively,  in  a  manner  and  proportion  which  will  ba 
explained  hereafter. 

There  is  another  mode  by  which  the  cost  of  the  locomotive 


214  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XII. 

power  may  be  distributed  among  the  vehicles  01  transport,  which 
will,  in  some  cases,  be  more  conveniently  applicable  than  that 
which  has  just  been  explained. 

Let  us  suppose  that  the  average  number  of  vehicles  which  is 
drawn  by  each  class  of  engine  is  ascertained,  and  let  the  average 
number  drawn  by  passenger  engines  be  expressed  by  n',  and  the 
average  number  drawn  by  goods  engines  be  expressed  by  n". 

Now  it  is  evident  that  we  shall  distribute  the  expenses  of  the 
passenger  engines  among  the  vehicles  they  draw  simply  by 
dividing  the  expense  of  the  engines  per  mile  by  the  number  of 
vehicles  they  draw.  Thus  it  follows  that  the  charge  per  mile 
for  locomotive  oower  on  each  vehicle  composing  a  passenger 
train  would  be. 


n'  (e  +  e') 

And,  in  the  same  manner,  the  charge  for  locomotive  power  on 
each  vehicle  drawn  by  the  goods  engine, 


It  is  necessary,  however,  to  observe  here,  that  in  general  the 
number  of  vehicles  drawn  by  the  engines  respectively,  here 
expressed  by  n'  and  n",  can  only  be  obtained  with  accuracy  by 
first  taking  the  mileage  of  the  engines,  and  then  the  mileage 
of  the  vehicles  they  draw,  and  dividing  the  latter  by  the  former. 

In  estimating  the  performance  of  a  projected  railway,  however, 
it  sometimes  happens  that  the  probable  average  number  of  car- 
riages to  be  drawn  by  each  engine  may  be  obtained  without 
previously  estimating  the  mileage  of  the  vehicles  of  transport. 
In  such  case  the  latter  method  of  calculation  may  be  used,  and 
will  be  the  most  simple. 

The  expenses  expressed  by  L  consist  of  three  items,  which 
it  is  important  to  consider  separately. 

1st.  The  actual  cost  of  working  the  engines,  when  moving  ou 
the  road  ;  which  cost  is  in  the  direct  proportion  of  their 
mileage. 

2d.  The  expenses  of  cleaning,  lighting,  and  raising  the  steam 
of  the  engine  preparatory  to  its  work. 

3d.  The  cost  of  keeping  the  engine  standing  with  its  steam 
up,  either  waiting  for  its  work,  or  being  maintained  in 
reserve  to  meet  the  contingencies  of  the  road. 


CHAP.  XII.]  THE  EXPENSES.  215 

Let  us  call  the  expense  of  working  an  engine  per  mile  I.  Then 
the  total  expenses  of  working  the  engines  will  be  found  by  mul- 
tiplying this  expense,  Z,  by  the  total  mileage  of  the  engines.  The 
total  expense  of  the  engines  while  actually  working  will  therefore 
be  expressed  by 


Let  us  express  the  expense  of  cleaning,  lighting,  and  raising 
the  steam  of  an  engine  preparatory  to  work  by  I',  and  let  the 
number  of  engines  cleaned  and  lighted  be  expressed  by  E",  as 
in  Chap.  V. 

The  total  expense  of  cleaning,  lighting,  and  steaming  will  then 
be  expressed  by 

I'  E''. 

Finally,  let  the  cost  per  hour  of  keeping  an  engine  standing 
with  its  steam  up  without  work  be  expressed  by  I",  and  let  the 
number  of  hours  which  engines  have  been  kept  standing  be  ex- 
pressed by  S.  The  total  expenses  of  the  engines  while  stand- 
ing will  therefore  be  expressed  by 

I"  8. 

Hence  it  follows  that  the  total  expenses,  expressed  in  the 
preceding  paragraph  by  L,  will  be  equal  to  the  aggregate  of  the 
three  expenses  which  have  been  just  explained.  In  other 
words,  we  shall  have 

L  =  I  (e  +  e')  +  I'  E"  +  I"  S. 

The  expenses  chargeable  per  mile  for  each  engine  will  then 
be  found  by  dividing  the  above  total  by  the  mileage,  e  -{-  e',  which 
will  give 


e  +  e'          '   e+e' 

It  appears  from  this  that  the  cost  per  mile  for  driving  a  train 
consists  of  three  parts,  two  of  which  are  in  the  inverse  propor- 
tion of  the  total  mileage  of  the  engines,  and,  consequently,  that 
the  greater  the  proportion  which  this  total  mileage  shall  bear  to 
the  cost  of  cleaning,  lighting,  and  steaming  the  engines,  and  to 
the  cost  of  keeping  them  standing,  the  less  will  be  these,  two 
parts  of  the  expense. 

As  an  example  of  the  practical  application  of  this,  we  shall 
take  the  Belgian  railways  for  1844.  In  that  year  the  expense! 


216  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [Cmr.  XIL 

of  the   locomotive    power,  which  we   have  expressed  by  L, 
amounted  to  =£63,454.  and  consisted  of  the  following  items : 

£. 

Cost  of  working  locomotive  engines 50,044 

Cost  of  lighting,  raising  steam,  and  patting  them  in  train     9,688 
Cost  while  standing  with  steam  up 3,722 


63:454 

Hence  we  have  I  x  (e  +  «')  =  50,044*.  ;  and  since  t  +  f 
=  1,564,532,  we  shall  obtain  the  cost  per  mile  of  working  each 
engine:  thus, 


In  like  manner  we  have  /'  X  E"  =  9.6S&. 

By  dividing  this,  therefore,  by  the  number  of  engines  which 
were  lighted  and  steamed,  and  which  was  23,021,  we  shall  ob- 
tain the  cost  of  lighting,  steaming,  and  patting  in  train  each  en- 
gine. This  gives 


In  the  same  way  we  have  I"  x  S  =  3722.     By  dividing  this 
third  item  by  the  number  of  hours  which  the  engines  were 
kept  standing,  and  which  was  178,637,  we  shall  find  the  cost 
per  hour  for  each  engine  standing.     This  gives 
c£.  ~          , 


To  find  the  share  of  the  expenses  expressed  by  L.  which  falls 
on  each  engine,  we  have  to  divide  the  expenses,  L,  by  the  total 
mileage  of  the  engines.  This  gives 


.     e  +  ^  -1,584,532  ~ 

The  average  number  of  vehicles  drawn  in  that  year  by  pas- 
senger engines  was,  as  we  have  already  shown,  8-26.  Hence 
the  charge  per  mile  upon  each  vehicle  will  be 

d.  j 

L  9-6        d' 

:   z=  I'lo. 


CHAP.  XII.]  THE  EXPENSES.  217 

The  average  number  of  vehicles  drawn  by  each  goods  engine 
was  15-74.  Hence  we  find  the  charge  per  mile  on  each  vehicle 
as  follows: 


Thus,  it  appears  that  the  charge  per  mile  on  each  vehicle 
forming  the  passenger  trains  was  I'IGd. ;  and  upon  each  vehicle 
composing  the  goods  trains,  was  only  -f^d. 

The  share  of  the  expenses  of  the  locomotive  power,  charge- 
able upon  the  vehicles  of  transport  in  the  same  year,  and  which 
we  have  expressed  by  L',  was  d£l 1,348. 

This  being  divided  by  the  total  mileage  of  all  the  vehicles, 
will  give  the  charge  per  mile  on  each  vehicle.  Thus  we 
have 

T ,      06.  d. 

—  =  0-00066  =  0-158. 
m 

In  like  manner  the  share  of  the  expenses  of  the  locomotive 
power  which  we  have  expressed  by  L",  produced  by  the  weight 
of  the  traffic,  was  664,453 ;  and  the  proportion  of  this  charge- 
able per  mile  on  each  ton  of  load  carried,  will  be  found  by 
dividing  this  sum  by  the  total  mileage  of  the  tons  of  load  which 
gives 

L"  4,453 


*          33,105,141 

Thus  it  appears  that  the  respective  amounts  of  the  parts  of  the 
locomotive  expenses  which  we  have  expressed  by  L,  L',  and 
L",  were 

L    =63,454, 

L'  =11,348, 

L"=    4,453,  <£. 

L  +  L'  +  L"  =  72,255. 

The  published  reports  of  the  expenditure  of  the  English  rail- 
ways do  not  afford  the  data  necessary  to  enable  us  to  subdivide 
the  total  expense  of  the  locomotive  power  in  the  manner  and 
proportions  here  explained ;    but  it  will  be  observed  that  the 
K 


218  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XII. 

parts  expressed  by  L'  and  L"  are  only  about  20  per  cent,  of 
the  total  amount.  We  shall  therefore  riot  commit  any  consider- 
able error,  if,  in  taking  a  practical  example  from  the  English 
railway  reports,  we  divide  the  entire  amount  of  the  locomotive 
expenses  among  the  vehicles  of  transport,  according  to  their 
mileage,  as  we  have  done  with  the  general  expenses  of  direction 
and  maintenance  of  the  way. 

More  strict  accuracy  could  certainly  be  obtained  if  we  pos- 
sessed accounts  as  clear  and  full  as  those  of  the  Belgian  rail- 
ways;  but  in  the  absence  of  these  we  must  approximate  to  the 
truth  as  nearly  as  the  data  will  permit  us. 

On  the  London  and  Brighton  railways,  during  the  twelve 
months  ending  31st  December,  1848,  the  expenses  for  loco- 
motive power  amounted  to  d£56,381,  and  the  total  mileage  of 
the  engines  to  1,360,168.  Hence  we  have 

L  =  56.381Z., 
e  +  e'  =  1,360,168, 

—  9-96. 


e+e' 

Thus  the  working  cost  of  each  engine  was  IQd.  a  mile.  To 
compare  the  results  obtained  upon  the  Belgian  railways  with 
this,  it  is  necessary  to  observe  that  the  expense  expressed  here 
by  L  is  the  whole  expense  of  the  locomotive  power,  and  in- 
cludes, therefore,  all  the  expenses  expressed  by  L,  L',  and  L" 
in  the  case  of  the  Belgian  lines.  It  will  therefore  be  necessary 
to  divide  the  expense  L  -j-  L'-(-  L"  for  the  Belgian  lines,  by 
e  +  e1,  for  the  same  lines,  in  order  to  compare  the  two  results. 
This  gives, 

L+L'+L"  _    79.255  _  * 

e+e'         ~  1,584,532  ~ 

It  appears,  therefore,  that  the  working  expense  of  the  en- 
gines on  the  London  and  Brighton  Railway,  was  16T6g  per  cent. 
less  than  on  the  Belgian  lines. 

The  reports  do  not  supply  us  with  the  data  necessary  to 
ascertain  the  average  number  of  vehicles  of  each  kind  drawn 
by  each  engine  on  the  Brighton  line,  and  we  can  not,  therefore, 
subdivide  this  among  the  vehicles. 

On  _the  Great  Western  Railway,  during  the  twelve  months 
ending  30th  June,  1849,  the  expenses  for  locomotive  power, 


CHAP.  XII.]  THE  EXPENSES.  219 

according  to  the  published  reports,   were  ,£96,462 ;    and   the 
total  mileage  was  2,737,928.     Hence  we  have, 

L  —  96,462Z., 
e  +  e'=  2,737,928, 

d. 

-£-,  =  8.45, 
e  +  e' 

which  was  the  working  cost  of  each  engine  per  mile. 

It  is  necessary  to  observe,  that  the  reported  mileage  of  the 
engines  in  the  case  of  the  Great  Western  Railway  includes, 
as  indeed  it  ought  to  do,  the  mileage  of  the  assisting  engines 
on  inclined  planes,  of  empty  engines,  and  of  the  engines  used 
in  forming  the  train  at  the  stations.  In  the  case  ef  the  Lon- 
don and  Brighton,  these  do  not  appear  to  be  included.  On 
the  Great  Western,  the  mileage  of  the  engines  while  actually 
drawing  trains  amounted  to  2,603,934. 

If  the  expenses  be  divided  by  this  mileage,  the  quotient 
would  be  8-88^.,  or  very  nearly  9d.  a  mile,  corresponding  with 
the  results  already  obtained  on  the  Brighton  Railway. 

But  still  it  would  appear  that  a  greater  economy  is  obtained 
on  the  Great  Western  Railway,  when  the  superior  magnitude 
and  power  of  its  engines  are  considered ;  unless,  indeed,  the 
average  loads  they  draw  are  proportionally  less. 

We  are  unable  to  ascertain_the  amount  of  the  loads  drawn 
by  the  engines  from  the  data  supplied  by  the  published  reports 
of  this  railway. 

Documents  which  I  have  obtained  from  the  manager  of  the 
Northwestern  Railway  enable  me  to  give  another  striking  ex- 
ample of  this  item  of expense» 

The  Northwestern  Railway  Company,  besides  working  the 
traffic  of  its  own  lines  and  branches,  consisting  of  438  miles, 
also  supplies  locomotive  power  for  working  the  Chester  and 
Holyhead.  Lancashire  and  Carlisle,  Kendal  and  Windermere, 
Shropshire  Union,*  and  North  Union  railways,  making  a  total 
of  670  miles;  being  about  the  eighth  part  of  the  entire  railways 
of  the  United  Kingdom  in  operation. 

The  traffic  of  this  extensive  system  of  railways  was  worked, 
during  the  twelve  months  ending  the  30th  June,  1849,  by 
457  locomotive  engines,  which  performed  a  total  mileage,  in 

*  The  Shropshire  Union  (30  miles),  connecting  Shrewsbury  with 
Stafford,  was  not  opened  for  traffic  till  June,  1 849. 


220  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XII. 

working  such  traffic,  amounting  to  7,532,230.     The  total  cost 
of  this  power  was  ^£306,668.     We  have  therefore, 

L  =  306,G68Z., 
c  -f  e>  =  7,532,230, 


This  example  is  entitled  to  the  more  weight,  because  of  the 
extensive  system  of  lines  from  which  it  is  deduced  ;  and  we 
may,  therefore,  safely  assume  that  the  average  cost  for  loco- 
motive power  in  working  the  trains  on  the  English  railways, 
taken  one  with  another,  including  both  goods  and  passenger 
trains,  is,  in  round  numbers,  lOd.  a  mile. 

If  the  average  number  of  vehicles  drawn  by  passenger  engines 
be  eight,  as  it  would  appear  to  be  from  the  estimate  of  Captain 
Huish,  already  referred  to,  then  it  will  follow  that  the  average 
cost  for  locomotive  power,  for  each  vehicle,  is  l±d.  per  mile. 

THE    CARRYING    EXPENSES. 

Under  this  head  are  comprised  all  the  expenses,  direct  and 
indirect,  which  arise  from  the  maintenance  of  the  vehicles  of 
transport  of  every  class. 

These  expenses  may  be  classed  under  the  following  heads  : 

1st-  The  repairs  of  that  portion  of  the  wear  of  the  rails  pro- 
duced by  the  action  of  the  weight  of  the  vehicles  of 
transport,  independently  of  the  load  they  carry.  This 
we  have  already  explained  and  designated  by  W". 

2dly.  That  part  of  the  wear  of  the  locomotive  engines  and 
the  additional  expense  of  fuel  consumed  in  conse- 
quence of  the  exertion  of  the  tractive  force  in  drawing 
the  vehicles  of  transport,  independently  of  the  load 
they  carry.  This  has  been  already  designated  by  L'. 

3dly.  The  maintenance  and  repairs  of  the  carrying-stock 
itself,  including  the  necessary  renewals,  and  the  gen- 
eral expenses  of  the  coach-houses,  or  depots. 

These  expenses  might  be  taken  in  the  aggregate,  and  shared 
among  the  vehicles  of  transport  according  to  their  mileage,  in 
the  same  manner  as  we  have  proceeded  with  the  expenses  of 
direction  and  the  maintenance  of  the  way. 

By  such  a  distribution,  however,  the  expenses  would  not 
be  shared  among  the  carrying  stock,  in  accordance  with  tho 


CHAP.  XII.]  THE  EXPENSES.  221 

causes  which  produced  them.  For  example,  the  expenses 
produced  by  the  passenger  carriages  are  greater  in  proportion 
than  those  produced  by  the  goods-wagons,  horse-boxes,  car- 
riage-trucks, &c. ;  and  among  the  goods- wagons  themselves  the 
expenses  will  obviously  differ  to  some  extent  according  to  their 
magnitude  and  weight.  In  the  analysis  of  the  expenses  already 
referred  to  on  the  Belgian  railways,  M.  Belpaire  divides  the 
vehicles  of  transport  into  three  classes,  the  passenger  carriages: 
the  covered  wagons,  including  horse-boxes,  baggage-vans,  &c.  ; 
and  the  flat,  uncovered  goods-wagons.  The  expenses  of  the 
coaching  department  are  distributed  among  the  passenger  car- 
riages ;  and  the  expenses  of  the  wagon  department  distributed 
between  the  two  classes  of  wagons,  according  to  their  weights. 

The  result  of  this  calculation,  however,  gives  differences  so 
extremely  small,  between  the  expenses  of  the  passenger  car- 
riages and  the  heavier  class  of  goods-wagons,  that  it  is  scarcely 
necessary  to  complicate  the  calculation  by  distinguishing  them. 
Thus  the  share  of  the  expenses  per  1000  miles  run,  which  falls 
on  passenger  carriages  and  covered  goods-wagons,  is  in  the 
proportion  of  40  to  39.  A  somewhat  greater  difference  prevails 
between  the  expenses  of  passenger-carriages,  and  those  of  the 
flat  and  uncovered  wagons,  being  in  the  ratio  of  40  to  33. 

It  will  nevertheless  be  more  simple,  and  productive  of  scarcely 
any  sensible  error  in  the  distribution  of  the  expenses,  to  take 
the  entire  expenses,  direct  and  indirect,  of  the  carrying  stock, 
and  divide  it  among  the  vehicles  of  transport,  as  we  have 
already  done  with  the  expenses  of  direction  and  the  mainte- 
nance of  the  way,  according  to  their  mileage. 

If  the  coaching  expenses  be  kept  sufficiently  independent  of, 
and  distinct  from  the  wagon  expenses,  then  it  will  be  easy, 
and  more  strictly  equitable,  to  divide  each  by  their  mileages 
respectively,  and  thus  obtain  the  charges  on  each  vehicle  of 
the  passenger  trains  distinct  from  the  goods  trains. 

As  a  practical  example  of  such  calculation,  we  will  take,  as 
before,  the  Belgian  railways.  Let  V  express  the  total  ex- 
pauses  of  all  the  vehicles  of  transport,  independent  of  the  loads 
they  carry ;  and  let  V'  express  the  additional  expense  produced 
by  the  load.  We  find  that, 

06. 

V  =  24,900 
V—    5,084 
V  +  V  =  29,984  ; 

TO  =  17,193,658; 


222  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XII. 

V       d' 
-  =  0-35 

TO 

V 

—  =  0-072 

TO 


The  last  is  therefore  the^  charge  per  mile  on  each  vehicle  for 
the  entire  expense,  including  the  load. 

In  the  preceding  analysis,  the  expenses  arising  directly  and 

indirectly  from  the  load   borne   by  the  vehicles  of  transport, 

have  been  kept  apart  and  reserved  for  separate  consideration, 

and  the  expenses  which  have  been  enumerated  are  those  which 

would  be  produced  if  the  trains  of  every  description  which  act- 

ually carry  the  traffic  were  drawn  upon  the  railway  empty.     The 

addition  of  the  load  produces  augmented  expenses,  which  have 

been  alreadj'  indicated,  and  which  were  reserved  to  be  separate- 

ly chargeable  upon  the  traffic.     These  expenses  are  as  follow  : 

1st.     The   increased  wear  and  tear  of  the   rails   produced 

by   the    weight   of  the    traffic,   and  which   has   been 

expressed  by  W". 

2dly.  The  increased  wear  and  tear  of  the  locomotive  engines, 
and  the  increased  corisumption  of  fuel  in  them  pro- 
duced by  the  weight  of  the  traffic,  and  which  has 
been  expressed  by  L". 

3dly.  The  increased  wear  and  tear  of  the  vehicles  of  trans- 
port produced  by  the  increased  weight  of  the  traffic. 

Now,  in  fact,  these  charges  constitute  the  entire  share  of 
the  expenses  of  transport,  properly  so  called,  which  is  directly 
chargeable  upon  the  traffic.  They  are  the  difference  between 
what  the  expenses  of  the  railway  would  be  if  the  trains  were 
carried  upon  it  empty,  and  the  expenses  which  are  actually 
incurred  in  conducting  the  trains  loaded  as  they  are. 

It  may  be  contended,  that  the  process  would  be  more  simple, 
and  equally  effectual  for  all  practical  purposes,  if  the  expenses 
which  have  been  just  enumerated  were  at  once  included  under 
the  several  heads  of  maintenance  of  the  way,  locomotive  power, 
and  carrying  expenses,  already  indicated. 

To  this  it  may  be  replied,  that  if  the  sole  end  of  such  an 
analysis  as  the  present  is  to  ascertain  the  actual  expenses  pro- 
duced by  each  object  of  traffic,  such  purpose  will  be  defeated  if 
the  expenses  occasioned  by  certain  objects  be  charged  upon 


CHAP.  XII.] 


THE  EXPENSES. 


223 


others,  even  though  the  aggregate  result  of  such  account:  should 
be  correct;  since  such  correctness  would  only  bo  produced  by 
a  compensation  of  errors.  In  analyzing  the  expenses  of  an  en- 
terprise so  complicated  as  a  railway  establishment,  somo  com- 
pensation of  errors  is  inevitable.  It  is  quite  impracticable  to 
assign  precisely  to  each  article  of  transport  the  share  of  the  ex- 
penses which  it  produces.  The  weight,  therefore,  of  the  ob- 
jection will  altogether  depend  on  the  extent  to  which  the  prin- 
ciple of  compensation  of  errors  in  such  a  case  is  carried.  We 
are  enabled  to  ascertain  this  extent  by  the  reports  aud  accounts 
of  the  Belgian  railways,  and  the  consequences  which  we  have 
deduced  from  them. 

By  taking  the  special  expenses  chargeable  upon  each  object 
of  traffic,  independently  of  the  general  expense,  which  we  have 
designated  in  the  preceding  analysis  by  D,  W,  L,  and  V,  and 
by  combining  such  special  expenses  with  the  average  load  which 
each  class  of  vehicles  carries,  we  can  ascertain  the  increased 
expenses  per  mile  produced  on  each  vehicle  by  the  addition  of 
its  load.  We  have  done  this  with  respect  to  the  BelgiUn  rail- 
ways in  the  following  table,  in-th-e  first  column  of  which  appear 
the  expenses  per  mile  produced  by  each  object  of  traffic  ;  in  the 
second  column  the  average  number  of  such  objects  of  traffic  car- 
ried by  each  vehicle  respectively;  and  in  the  third  column  tVie 
product  of  .these  two  numbers,  representing  the  expenses  per 
mile  on  each  vehicle,  produced  by  its  load. 


Object  of  Traffic. 

Expense 
per  Mile. 

Average 
Number 
per  Vehicle. 

Expense 
per  Vehicle 
per  Mile. 

1st  class  passenger  

2d  and  3d  class  passengers  

d. 
0-042 
0-006 
0-07 

8-5 
14-4 
0-56 

0-357 
0-0864 
0-0392 

0-07 

1-85 

0-1293 

A  ho'-se                                      

0-05 

1-67 

0-0835 

0-07 

0-75 

0-0525 

0-07 

2-5 

0-1750 

A  head  of  cattle  

0-03 

4-19 

0-1257 

0-007 

3-1-9 

0-2443 

To  ascertain  to  what  extent  this  differs  from  the  charges 
which  would  fall  on  the  objects  of  traffic  respectively  by  dividing 
the  total  amount  of  the  special  expenses  among  the  vehicles  of 
transport  indifferently,  in  the  ratio  of  their  mileage,  we  divide 
the  total  amount  of  the  special  expenses,  c£10,849,  by  the,  total 
mileage,  17,193,658,  of  the  vehicles,  and  the  quotient,  0-1514</., 
is  the  share  per  mile  which  falls  on  each  vehicle.  Dividing  this 


221 


RAILWAY  ECONOMY. 


[CHAP.  XII. 


by  the  average  quantity  of  the  objects  of  transport  which  each 
vehicle  carries,  and  comparing  these  with  the  actual  share  of 
the  expenses  chargeable  to  each  object,  we  obtain  the  following 
results : 


Actual 
Share  of 
Expenses. 

f3hnre  toy 
equal  Division 
of  Expenses 
among 
Vehicles. 

Difference. 

Over- 
charge. 

Under- 
charge. 

d. 
0-0242 

0-o"o~95 
0-0037 

d. 
0-042 
0-006 
0-070 
0-070 
0-050 
0-070 
0-070 
0030 
0-007 

d. 
0-0178 
0-0105 
0-2704 
0-0818 
0-0907 
0-2018 
0-0605 
0-0361 
0-0043 

d. 

0-0~0~45 
0-2004 
0-0118 
0-0407 
0-1318 

0-0061 

„           2d  and  3d  class... 
A  ton  of  baggage  

A  head  of  cattle  

„         small  cattle 

Such,  then,  is  the  compensation  of  errors  by  overcharge  and 
undercharge  which  would  be  produced  if  the  expenses  properly 
chai'geable  in  various  proportions  on  the  traffic  were  distributed 
uniformly  among  the  mileage  of  the  vehicles  of  transport.  But 
to  estimate  the  importance  of  this  departure  from  strict  accu- 
racy, it  will  be  necessary  to  compare  these  deviations  from  the 
truth  with  the  total  amount  of  expenses  chargeable  upon  each 
object  of  traffic.  I  have  accordingly  done  this  in  the  following 
table,  in  the  first  column  of  which  is  exhibited  the  actual  share 
of  the  total  expenses  per  mile  which  was  produced  by  each 
object  of  traffic;  and,  in  the  second  and  third  columns,  the 
amount  per  cent,  of  the  overcharge  or  undercharge,  which 
would  be  committed  by  the  adoption  of  the  principle  of  uniform 
distribution  among  the  vehicles. 


Total 
Expense  of 
Transport 
per  Mile. 

Percentage  of  Total  Expenses. 

Overcharge. 

Undercharge. 

d. 
0-37 
0-25 
0-20 
7-05 
2-50 
1-70 
3-80 
1-11 
0-66 
0-09 

1-80 
2-20 
2-80 
0-50 
2-40 
3-40 

0-93 

6-50 

0-90 
3-00 

2d  class 

Goods  per  ton  ,  

Cattle  per  head 

Small  cattle  per  bead  

CHAP.  XII.]  THE  EXPENSES.  225 

It  appears  that  these  errors  form  but  a  small  percentage  of 
the  whole  expenses,  and  would  form  a  much  smaller  percentage 
of  the  fares  which  would  be  charged  upon  the  several  articles. 
We  may  therefore  conclude,  that  the  simplicity  of  calculation 
gained  by  dividing  the  entire  expenses  among  the  mileage  of  the 
vehicles,  and  then  among  the  objects  they  carry,  more  than 
compensates  for  the  minute  errors  which  would  be  produced  by 
the  distribution  of  this  part  of  the  expenses. 

We  may,  then,  recapitulate  the  various  heads  of  expenses 
explained  above,  including,  however,  under  them  respectively, 
the  entire  expenses  of  the  maintenance  of  the  way  and  works, 
the  locomotive  power,  and  the  carrying  expenses  produced  by 
the  traffic,  as  follows  : 

Total  expenses  of  direction  and  management .......   D 

Total  mileage  of  carrying  stock m 

Share  of  expenses  of  direction  chargeable  per  mile  on 

each  vehicle  of  carrying  stock _ 

m 

Expenses  of  maintenance  of  way  and  works W 

Share  of  these  expenses  chargeable  per  mile  on  each  ™ 

vehicle  of  carrying  stock — 

01 

Expenses  of  locomotive  power L 

Total  mileage  of  passenger  engines c 

Total  mileage  of  goods  engines c' 

Share  of  expenses  L  chargeable  per  mile  on  each     .,  / 

engine 

c  +  e' 
Share  of  expenses  L  chargeable  upon  the  passenger     _  , 

engines  collectively 

e  +  e' 
Share  of  expenses  L  chargeable  upon  the  goods  en-         , 

gines  collectively , — e~ 

Total  mileage  of  the  vehicles  composing  the  passen- 
ger trains m' 

Total  mileage  of  the  vehicles  composing  the  goods 
trains . m" 

Share  of  the  expenses  of  passenger  engines  charge- 
able per  mile  on  each  vehicle  drawn  by  them. ... 

m'  (e  +  c') 

Share  of  expenses  of  goods  engines  chargeable  per 
mile  on  each  vehicle  drawn  by  them 

Share  of  expenses  of  carrying  stock  chargeable  on 

the  vehicles  composing  the  passenger  trains V 

Share  of  expenses  of  passenger  stock  per  mile  chargea-  y 

hie  upon  each  vehicle  composing  the  passenger  trains  — 


226  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XII. 

Share  of  expenses  of  carrying  stock  chargeable  to  the 

vehicles  composing  the  goods  trains V 

Share  of  expenses  of  goods  stock  per  mile  chargea-  y, 

ble  upon  each  vehicle  composing  the  goods  trains  — ; 

Hence  it  appears  that  the  total  amount  of  the  expense  charge- 
able per  mile  upon  each  vehicle  composing  a  passenger  train  is 
as  follows : 

D       W  Lxc         .    V 

m        m        m'  X  («  +  e')        mf ' 

And  the  total  amount  of  the  expenses  chargeable  upon  each 
vehicle  composing  a  goods  train  is 

D      W  LXe  V^ 

mm        m"  (e  -I-  e')       m"  ' 


THE    STATIONS. 

In  what  precedes,  I  have  explained  the  manner  of  distribu- 
ting among  the  traffic  all  those  expenses  which  are  chargeable 
upon  it  in  the  form  of  a  mileage. 

It  now  remains  to  notice  a  class  of  expenses  which,  being  in- 
dependent of  locomotion,  are  chargeable  upon  the  traffic  in  a 
proportion  depending  conjointly  on  its  quantity  and  quality, 
without  any  reference  whatever  to  the  distance  to  which  it  may 
be  transported. 

The  expenses  of  the  stations  consist  principally  of  the  follow- 
ing items : 

1st.  The  maintenance  and  repair  of  the  buildings  and  furni- 
ture of  the  various  stations  for  the  reception  and  em- 
barkation and  disembarkation  and  discharge  of  passen- 
gers and  goods. 

2J.  The  salaries  of  all  classes  of  agents,  from  the  superin- 
tendents down  to  the  lowest  porter  employed  in  the 
service  of  the  embarkation,  booking,  disembarkation, 
discharging,  and  delivery  bf  the  objects  of  transport, 
including  those  agents  who  accompany  the  trains  for 
the  purpose  of  delivering  the  various  articles  of  trans- 
port at  the  stations,  and  of  receiving  and  discharging 
the  passengers. 

3d.    The  cost  of  all  articles  consumed  in  the  stations,  includ- 
'     ing  all  the  machinery  and  stock  requisite  for  the  em- 
barkation, disembarkation,  and  delivery  of  goods. 


CHAP.  Xn.]  THE  EXPENSES.  227 

Under  these  heads  are,  of  corirse,  included  a  multitude  of 
miscellaneous  expenses  connected  with  the  ordinary  business 
of  the  stations,  such  as  lighting  and  warming  them,  attendance 
in  the  waiting-rooms  on  the  passsengers,  all  the  details  of  the 
booking  offices,  the  necessary  attendance  in  the  offices  for  the 
reception  of  passengers'  baggage  and  parcels,  and  the  labor  and 
materials  consumed  in  loading  the  same,  the  necessary  attend- 
ance for  the  embarkation  of  carriages  and  horses,  of  live  stock, 
and  of  every  species  of  goods;  and,  in  some  cases,  the  means 
for  delivering  the  goods,  as  they  arrive,  at  the  domicile  of  the 
party  to  whom  they  are  addressed,  and  of  collecting  the  goods 
which  are  about  to  be  dispatched. 

From  the  nature  of  this  service  it  will  be  evident  that  the 
expenses  attendant  upon  it  have  uo  reference  to  the  distance  to 
which  the  traffic  is  transported.  Two  bales  of  goods  delivered 
at  a  railway  station  are  received,  weighed,  booked,  entered  on 
the  way-bill,  labeled,  and  loaded.  On  arriving  at  their  respect- 
ive destination  they  are  unloaded,  discharged,  delivered,  and  the 
charge  upon  them,  if  any,  collected. 

All  these  various  services  will  be  precisely  the  same  for  these 
two  bales  of  goods,  if  one  be  carried  500  miles,  and  the  other 
only  5  miles. 

Such  expenses  must  therefore  be  debited  to  the  traffic,  with- 
out any  reference  to  its  mileage. 

But  these  expenses  will  evidently  vary  within  very  wide 
limits,  according  to  the  nature  of  the  objects  which  are  em- 
barked and  delivered. 

Passengers,  on  arriving,  must  be  provided  with  proper  book- 
ing-offices, a  staff  of  clerks,  a  waiting-room  properly  illuminated, 
warmed,  and  furnished,  and  a  convenient  wharf  for  embark- 
ation, with  suitable  attendants  for  their  guidance,  and  for  the 
disposition  of  their  baggage.  On  arriving  at  their  destination, 
similar  services  are  required. 

Live  stock  require  particular  attendance  and  labor  for  their 
safe  embarkation  and  discharge.  Goods  of  various  qualities  re- 
quire various  degrees  of  care  and  labor  for  their  secure  embark- 
ation and  discharge. 

Now  it  will  be  evident  that  the  distribution  of  the  total  ex- 
penses of  the  establishment  of  the  stations  between  these  various 
objects  must  be  a  process  attended  with  much  difficulty,  and,  to 
some  extent,  arbitrary.  If  only  one  species  of  traffic  were  em- 
barked and  delivered,  then  it  would  be  sufficient  to  divide  the 
total  expenses  of  the  stations  between  this  quantity,  expressed 


228  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XII. 

iu  weight  or  number,  as  the  case  might  be;  but  the  traffic  con- 
sisting of  a  great  variety  of  different  classes  of  objects,  the  dis- 
tribution of  the  expenses  among  them  requires  that  some  com- 
mon measure  be  selected,  by  which  the  proportional  expenses 
of  each  class  of  traffic  may  be  determined.  Estimates  of  this 
kiud  have  been  made  in  different  foreign  railway  establishments. 

M.  Teisserenc,  who  has  devoted  much  attention  to  the  sta- 
tistics of  railways,  and  has  been  practically  connected  with  the 
French  lines,  proposes  that  the  average  expenses  of  the  em- 
barkation and  delivery  of  a  ton  of  merchandise,  which  he  esti- 
mates, on  the  French  lines,  at  about  Is.  6d.,  should  be  taken  as 
the  unit  or  common  measure  for  the  expenses  of  the  embark- 
ation and  delivery  of  the  traffic  in  general,  and  that  the  expenses 
of  the  stations  shall  be  divided  among  the  traffic  in  the  following 
proportions  relatively  to  the  cost  of  a  ton  of  goods. 

Let  A  express  the  cost  of  the  embarkation  and  delivery  of  a 
ton  of  goods.  Then  we  may  adopt,  according  to  M.  Teis- 
serenc, the  following  scale  for  other  objects  of  transport : 

A  ton  of  parcels 3  A 

,,    of  baggage 10  A 

A  carriage » 2  A 

A  horse .' 1 J  A 

A  head  of  cattle , £  A 

A  pig I  A 

A  calf:.. -J  A 

A  sheep T*O-  A 

The  same  authority  gives  the  following  scale  as  applicable  to 
the  Belgian  railways,  where  he  estimates  the  cost  of  the  em- 
barkation and  delivery  of  a  ton  of  goods  at  the  same  amount  as 
above : 

A  ton  of  parcels 3£  A 

,,     of  baggage 10  A 

A  carriage 1 1  A 

A  horse A 

A  head  of  cattle f  A 

A  pig £  A 

A  calf -j-  A 

A  sheep j  A 

A  passenger £  A 

According  to  M.  Belpaire,  who  has  given  a  very  elaborate 
distribution  of  the  expenses  of  the  Belgian  railways  among  the 
traffic,  the  following  are,  or  were  (in  1844),  the  proportional 
expenses  of  embarkation  and  discharge,  the  unit  being,  as  before, 


CHAP.  XIL]  THE  EXPENSES.  229 

the  average  cost  of  embarkation  and  discharge  of  a  ton  of  mer 
chandise : 

A  ton  of  baggage 8     A 

„     of  parcels 3^A 

A  carriage A 

A  horse T9S  A 

A  passenger -^  A 

M.  Belpaire  gives  no  estimate  of  the  embarkation  of  live 
stock,  as  this  process  was  then  conducted  at  the  charge  of  the 
expeditor. 

The  difference  between  the  amount  of  the  expenses  assigned 
to  the  embarkation  and  discharge  of  these  different  classes  of 
objects,  admits  of  easy  explanation. 

The  embarkation  of  a  ton  of  merchandise,  consisting  of  a 
bale  dispatched  by  one  individual  and  consigned  to  another, 
is  limited  to  a  single  entry  in  the  books  and  way-bill,  the  label- 
ing and  loading,  unloading  and  delivery,  of  a  single  bale. 

But  a  ton  of  parcels,  consisting  of  a  great  multitude  of  de- 
tached packets  of  different  weights,  dispatchad  by  a  great  num- 
ber of  different  .persons,  requiring  as  many  different  entries 
on  the  books  and  way-bills,  and  followed  by  as  many  different 
operations  for  their  discharge  and  delivery,  obviously  involves 
a  vastly  increased  expense. 

It  will  not,  therefore,  be  surprising,  that  the  average  ex- 
penses for  a  ton  of  such  objects  is  much  greater  than  for  a  ton 
of  goods. 

The  expenses  of  embarkation  and  delivery  of  passengers' 
baggage  is  still  greater  than  that  of  parcels,  because  the  bag- 
gage arrives  at  the  last  moment,  is  weighed,  booked,  and  loaded 
with  precipitation,  and  requires  the  attention  of  numerous 
agents.  The  parcels,  on  the  other  hand,  are  received,  booked, 
weighed,  and  loaded  with  more  deliberation  and  order,  and 
therefore  employ  a  less  number  of  agents  in  proportion  to  their 
number  and  weight. 

The  distribution  of  the  expenses  of  the  service  of  the  stations 
among  the  traffic  depends  on  circumstances,  which  vary  so 
much,  not  only  in  one  railway  compared  with  another,  but 
with  the  changes  incidental  to  the  traffic  itself  and  its  manage- 
ment, that  it  is  impossible  to  state  any  general  principles  relative 
to  it,  and  each  case  must  be  arranged  according  to  the  peculiar 
circumstances  attending  it.  The  expenses  of  a  ton  of  mer- 
chandise, which  is  taken  as  the  common  modulus  or  unit,  vary 
within  very  wide  limits.  Iron  in  bars,  cast  iron,  or  lead  in 


RAILWAY  ECONOMY. 


[CHAP.    XII. 


pigs,  coals,  and  minerals,  do  not  cost  half  the  expense  per 
ton  which  attends  merchandise  which  requires  more  careful 
loading. 

The  following  are  the  estimated  expenses  of  the  stations  on 
the  Belgian  railways  : 


A  passenger    

A  ton  of  baggage 

„        parcels  

A  private  carriage 1   5 

A  ton  of  merchandise  (average)   1   5 


0  0-8 
10  0 
4  3 


We  shall  conclude  this  analysis  of  the  expenses  by  a  general 
practical  example  of  its  application  in  the  case  of  the  Belgian 
railways,  showing  the  proportion  chargeable  to  each  object  of 
traffic. 

It  has  been  already  shown  (p.  97),  that  the  average  number 
of  vehicles  composing  a  passenger  train  was  8-26,  and  the 
average  number  composing  a  goods  train  was  15-74. 


Total 

Per  Vehicle 

per  Mile. 

xpen. 

Passenger  Trains. 

Goods  Trains. 

Direction  and  management 
Maintenance  of  way  

£. 
30,477 
72,314 
79,255 

d. 
0-426 
0-954 
1-453 

d. 
0-426 
0-954 
0-762 

29,984 

0-422 

0-422 

Totals- 

212,030 

3-255 

2-564 

The  comparative  expenses  per  mile  of  the  passenger  and 
goods  trains  arise,  as  will  be  seen,  from  the  charge  for  the 
locomotive  power  per  vehicle  in  the  one  being  double  the  other  ; 
and  this  proceeds  from  the  circumstance  of  the  goods  trains  con- 
sisting of  fuller  loads,  or  a  greater  number  of  vehicles.  The 
charge  for  the  locomotive  power,  therefore,  has  a  greater  di- 
visor, and  the  share  falling  on  each  vehicle  of  transport  is  pro- 
portionally less.  Although  it  be  true  that  the  increased  mag- 
nitude of  the  trains  produces  some  increased  expense  in  the 
locomotive  power,  this  expense  is  comparatively  trifling,  con- 
sisting only  of  the  small  cost  of  the  traction  of  each  additional 
vehicle. 

This  will  illustrate  the  economy  to  be  derived  from  working 
in  general  with  full  trains.  An  additional  vehicle  drawn  by 


CHAP.  XII.] 


THE  EXPENSES. 


231 


the  engine,  produces  an  increase  of  the  divisor,  by  which  the 
expenses  of  the  moving  power  is  distributed  among  the  traffic. 
These  expenses,  chargeable  respectively  on  the  Vehicles  com- 
posing the  trains,  are  now  to  be  distributed  between  the  units 
composing  the  average  loads  of  these  vehicles.  It  has  been 
shown  that,  on  the  Belgian  railways,  the  average  loads  of  the 
several  denominations  of  vehicles  were  as  follows: 

Description  of  Vehicle.  Average  Load. 

Passenger  carriage,  1st  class,  number  of  passengers       8'54 
„  2d  class  „  12-38 

„  3d  class  „  16-41 

Baggage-van,  tons 0'56 

Parcel-van,  tons 1'85 

Horse-box,  number  of  horses 1  "67 

Carriage-truck,  number  of  carriages  0'74 

Goods-wagons,  tons 2'46 

Large  cattle-wagons,  head  of  cattle 4'  1 9 

Small  cattle-wagons  „  34'90 

By  dividing  the  expenses  chargeable  per  mile  on  each  vehicle 
by  the  number  of  units  of  load  as  here  given,  we  shall  find 
the  share  of  the  expenses  per  mile  chargeable  to  each  unit. 
If  this  be  multiplied  by  the  average  distance  over  which  each 
unit  of  load  was  carried,  we  shall  obtain  the  average  total  mile- 
age expenses  of  each  unit ;  and  if  to  this  be  added  the  share  of 
the  expenses  of  the  stations  chargeable  to  the  objects  of  traffic, 
irrespective  of  distance,  we  shall  obtain  the  entire  average  ex- 
penses of  each  object.  These  results  are  given  in  the  follow- 
ing table  : 


,. 

I. 

Expense  of 
Stations. 

n. 
Expense 
of  Trans- 
port per 
Mile. 

in. 
Average 
Distance 
carried. 

IV. 

Total  Ex- 
pense of 
Transport. 

V. 

Total  Ex- 
pense of 
Transport 
and  Bullions. 

Passengers,  1st  class. 
„            2d  class. 
3d  class. 
Ton  of  baggage  
„     parcels  

a.    d. 

0     0-82 
0     0-82 
0     0-82 
10     0-00 
4     3-00 
1     5-00 

d. 
0-38 
0-26 
0-20 
5-80 
1-77 
1-95 

Miles. 
43-20 
28-50 
21-50 
52-10 
54-40 
109-00 

«.   d. 

1     4-41 
0     7-41 
0     4-30 
25     2-18 
8     0-29 
17     8-55 

«.     d. 
1     5-23 
0     8-23 
0     5-12 
35     2-18 
12     3-29 
19     1-55 

1     5-00 

4-40 

90-00 

33     0-00 

34     5-00 

Ton  of  goods  
A  head  of  cattle  
„         small  cattle 

1     5-00 
0     9-00 
0     1-00 

1-04 
0-61 
0-07 

44-80 
57-00 
42-70 

3  10-60 
2  10-77 
0     3-00 

5     3-60 
3     7-77 
0     4-00 

The  arithmetical  process  by  which  the  above  table  has  been 


232  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XII. 

computed  will  easily  suggest  means  whereby  the  economy  of 
transport  may  be  promoted.  The  numbers  in  the  second 
column,  expressing  the  cost  per  mile  for  the  transport  properly 
so  called,  of  each  unit  of  traffic,  have  been  found  by  dividing 
the  cost  per  mile  by  the  number  of  units  in  the  average  load 
of  each  vehicle.  Now  it  has  been  shown  that  the  increased 
expense  arising  from  any  increase  of  the  load  of  each  vehicle, 
produces  an  insignificant  effect  on  the  total  expense  of  trans- 
port ;  and  it  therefore  follows  that  the  share  of  the  expenses 
of  transporting  such  vehicles  which  falls  on  each  unit  of  its  load, 
will  be  in  the  inverse  proportion  of  the  magnitude  of  such  load. 
It  may,  therefore,  be  inferred  that  the  cost  of  transport,  prop- 
erly so  called,  of  each  unit  of  load  will  be  inversely  as  the  mag- 
nitude of  the  load  transported  by  each  vehicle. 

It  would  be  desirable,  if  sufficiently  precise  data  could  be  ob- 
tained for  the  purpose,  to  ascertain  the  average  proportion  in 
which  the  working  expenses  of  the  English  railways  are  dis- 
tributed under  the  different  heads.  The  want  of  uniformity, 
however,  in  the  published  accounts  of  the  different  companies, 
where  we  find  different  expenses  frequently  classed  under  the 
same  denominations,  and  the  same  expenses  under  different  de- 
nominations, and  where,  from  the  want  of  clearness,  it  is  often 
difficult,  and  sometimes  impossible,  to  determine  the  head  to 
which  certain  disbursements  should  be  assigned,  renders  it  im- 
practicable to  obtain  any  general  and  exact  estimate  of  this  kind. 

I  have,  however,  extracted  from  the  mass  of  published  reports 
thirteen  half-yearly  statements  of  five  of  the  principal  com- 
panies, from  which  I  have  formed  the  following  tabular  analysis.. 
I  repeat,  however,  that  it  must  be  received  only  as  the  best 
that  can  be  obtained,  in  the  absence  of  more  precise  and  satis- 
factory data. 

The  numbers  which  appear  in  the  columns  of  the  following 
table  (see  page  233)  express  the  proportion  of  every  66100  of 
the  total  working  expenses,  which  were  appropriated  to  the 
different  heads  specified  in  the  table. 

From  all  that  has  been  explained  in  the  present  and  pre- 
ceding chapters,  it  may  be  inferred,  that,  among  the  principal 
measures  tending  toward  an  increased  economy  of  expenses 
in  the  working  of  railways,  the  following  are  the  most  prom- 
inent: 

1st.  So  to  manage  the  traffic,  that  the  various  classes  of 
vehicles  of  transport,  should  carry  more  complete  loads  ; 
because  the  share  of  the  expenses  falling  on  each  unit  of 


CHAP.  XII.] 


THE  EXPENSES. 


233 


ANALYSIS  of  the   approximate   Proportion  in  which  the  working   Ex- 
penses of  the  under-mentioned  Railway^  were  distributed  under  the 
several  specified  Heads. 

Northwestern. 
Half-year  ending 
Dec.  31,  1847  .. 
June  30,  1848  .. 
Dec.  31,  1848  .. 
June  30,  1849.. 

Direc- 
tion and 
Manage- 
ment. 

Way 
and 
Works. 

Loco- 
motive 
Power. 

Carrying 
Depart- 
ment. 

Office 
and 
Sun- 
dries. 

Total. 

4-34 
4-17 
3-80 
4-32 

11-68 
11-31 
11-40 
11-06 

32-86 
34-03 
33-39 
32-73 

49-12 
48-53 
47-79 
48-64 

2-00 
1-96 
3-62 
3-25 

100-00 

100-00 
100-00 
100-00 

Great  Western. 
Half-year  ending 
Dec.  31,  1848  .. 
June  30,  1849  .. 

11-10 
12-90 

22-80 
26-16 

29-60 
26-35 

34-50 
32-4S 

2-00 
2-14 

100-00 
100-00 

Brighton. 
Half-year  ending 
June  30,  1848  .. 
Dec.  31,  1848  .. 
June  30,  1849.. 

5-62 
7-30 
5-31 

15-90 
18-20 
16-90 

42-01 
39-41 
33'50 

34-80 
34-13 

41-89 

1-67 
0-98 
2-40 

100-00 
100-00 
100-00 

Southeastern. 
Half-year  ending 
June  30,  1848  .. 
Dec.  31,1848.. 

4-85 
5-40 

8-31 
8-94 

53-71 
43-00 

32-71 
41-80 

0-42 
0-86 

100-00 
100-00 

Southwestern. 
Half-year  ending 
June  30,1848.. 
Dec.  31,  1848  .. 

Mean  

11-70 
7-97 

19-30 
23-01 

28-30 
28-01 

25-30 
30-71 

15-40 
10-30 

lOO'OO 
100-00 

6-83 

15-76 

35-15 

38-64 

3-69 

100-00 

load,  diminishes  very  nearly  in  the  same  ratio  as  the  loa<? 
of  such  vehicles  increases. 

2dly.  So  to  manage  the  traffic  as  to  encourage  transport  to 
increased  distances,  because  those  expenses  which  are  in- 
dependent of  distance  will  thereby  be  spread  over  a  greater 
mileage  ;  that  part  of  the  cost  per  mile  of  each  object  of 
transport  diminishing  in  the  same  ratio  as  the  distance 
transported  increases. 

3dly.  So  to  manage  the  traffic,  that  the  number  of  vehicles 
drawn  by  each  engine  shall  be  increased,  because  the  cost 
of  traction  will  thus  be  divided  among  a  greater  number  of 
vehicles.  This  cost  is  but  slightly  increased  by  the  increase 
of  the  number  of  vehicles  drawn  by  each  engine  ;  while 


34  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XII. 

the  expenses  falling  on  each  vehicle  are  diminished  in  a 
much  larger  proportion. 

4thly.  So  to  manage  the  business  of  transport,  that  the  dis- 
tance run  by  each  engine  lighted  shall  be  increased ;  because, 
in  this  case,  those  charges  on  the  engine  power  which  are 
independent  of  distance  are  divided  among  a  greater  extent 
of  mileage ;  and  the  share  of  those  charges  falling  on  each 
vehicle  drawn  will  be  diminished,  ceeleris paribus,  in  the  same 
proportion  as  the  engine  mileage  is  increased. 

5thly.  In  cases  where  the  traffic  prevails  chiefly  in  one  direc- 
tion, and,  consequently,  where  "  empties"  are  drawn  in 
great  quantities  in  the  other  direction,  to  study  the  local 
products,  and  modify  the  tariff  so  as  to  attract  loads  for  the 
empty  vehicles  at  a  tariff  which  may  be  productive  under 
such  circumstances,  though  unproductive  under  ordinary 
conditions.  By  these  means,  the  average  load  of  the  vehicles 
of  transport  will  be  augmented. 

6thly.  Not  to  multiply  the  trains  beyond  that  point  which  the 
reasonable  accommodation  of  the  public  renders  indispens- 
able. The  more  the  trains  are  multiplied,  the  less  complete 
will  be  the  loads  of  every  description  of  traffic,  and  the 
greater  will  be  the  share  of  the  expenses  which  will  fall  on 
each  unit  carried. 

7thly.  To  sort  the  loads  of  each  description  of  traffic  as  far  as 
possible,  according  to  its  destination;  and  for  the  passenger 
traffic  to  provide  mixed  carriages,  which  may  take  up  in  the 
same  vehicle  the  complements  of  load  composed  of  different 
classes.  By  this  expedient,  a  single  carriage  in  a  passenger 
train  may  perform  the  office  of  three. 

Sthly.  To  diminish,  as  far  as  possible,  the  number  of  express 
trains,  if  it  be  not  practicable  to  abolish  them  altogether. 
Express  trains  are  a  source  of  vast  expense,  directly  and 
indirectly,  which  can  never  be  repaid  by  any  practicable 
tariff  to  be  levied  upon  them.  They  are  a  source  of  expense 
directly  by  their  extreme  speed,  which  produces  a  rapid 
deterioration  of  the  rails,  and  shakes  to  pieces  the  engine 
and  the  vehicles  of  transport.  They  are  a  still  greater 
source  of  expense  indirectly,  by  the  effect  they  produce  on 
the  ordinary  traffic  of  the  line.  Regular  trains  are  either 
urged  forward  at  undue  speed  to  get  out  of  their  way,  and 
thereby  the  wear  of  the  line,  the  engines,  and  the  carrying 
stock,  is  increased,  or  they  are  compelled,  as  in  the  case 
of  goods  trains,  to  stop  in  sidings  to  let  the  express  pass. 


CHAP.  XIII.]      RECEIPTS.— TARIFFS.— PROFITS.  235 

By  multiplying  the  stoppages  of  heavy  goods  trains,  the 
wear  of  the  rails,  engines,  and  vehicles  of  transport  them- 
selves is  seriously  increased  by  the  effects  of  the  absorption 
of  the  momentum  of  so  great  a  mass  in  stopping,  and  the 
action  of  the  engines  in  producing  the  momentum  in  start- 
ing; both  of  which,  by  the  common  laws  of  motion,  must 
be  expended  on  the  rails,  the  axles,  and  other  parts  of  the 
mechanism  upon  which  the  strain  is  thrown. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

RECEIPTS. TARIFFS. PROFITS. 

NONE  of  the  difficulties  which  have  been  encountered  in  the 
investigation  of  the  services  of  railways  are  presented  in  the 
analysis  of  their  receipts.  The  relation  of  the  expenses  to  the 
services  ultimately  rendered,  is  most  uncertain  and  arbitrary. 
The  relation  of  the  receipts  to  these  services  is  immediate  and 
obvious.  The  reports  of  the  railway  commissioners,  moreover, 
although  scanty  and  obscure  so  far  as  relates  to  the  expenses,  are 
sufficiently  ample  as  respects  the  receipts.  It  is  only  when  we 
come  to  compare  the  receipts  with  the  expenses,  for  the  purpose 
of  investigating  and  dissecting  the  profits,  that  we  encounter  dif- 
ficulties, and  these  difficulties  arise  exclusively  from  the  uncer- 
tainty and  obscurity  of  the  accounts  of  expenses. 

In  the  following  table  is  exhibited  the  receipts  proceeding 
from  the  transport  of  passengers  on  the  English  railways  during 
the  six  years  and  a  half  ending  Dec.  31,  1848;  showing  also 
the  average  receipts  per  day,  the  average  sum  contributed  by 
each  person  booked,  and  the  sum  paid  per  passenger  per  mile. 


/evenue  arising  from  the  Passenger  Traffic 
nited  Kingdom  during  the  Six  Years  and  a 

1848. 

on  the  Railways  of  the  U 
Half  ending  December  31, 

Twelve   months    ending 
June  30,  1843. 

Total 
Receipts. 

Average 
Receipts 
per  Day. 

Average 
Receipts 
per 
Passenger 
booked. 

Average 
Receipts 
per 
Passenger 
per  Mile. 

£. 

1,386,942 
1,300,758 
422,557 

£. 

3,799 
3,564 
1,158 

s.    d. 

6     0-75 
2     2'25 
1     2-50 

d. 

2-51 
1-80 
1.17 

2d  class 

3d  class  

Totals  and  averages  

3,110,257 

8,521 

2     8-00 

1-98 

RAILWAY  ECONOMY. 


[CHAP.  XIII. 


Total 

Receipts. 

Average 
Receipts 
per  day. 

Average 
Receipts 
per 
Passenger 
booked. 

Average 
Receipts 
per 
Passe  user 
per  Mile. 

Twelve   months   ending 
June  30,  1844. 
1st  class               

£. 

1,499,688 

£. 

4,108 

s,    d. 
5     7-00 

d. 
2-56 

2d  class 

1,436,537 

3936 

2     2-00 

1-80 

3d  class            

503,069 

1,378 

1     1-75 

1-05 

Totals  and  averages... 

3,439,294 

9,422 

2     5-75 

1-85 

Twelve   months   ending 
June  30,  1845. 
1st  class            

1,610,805 

4,413 

5     7-50 

2-63 

2d  class 

1,683,633 

4  613 

2     3-75 

1-92 

3d  class 

681,903 

1  868 

1     0-75 

0-97 

Totals  and  averages... 

3,976,341 

10,894 

2     4-25 

1-S2 

Twelve   months   ending 
June  30,  1846. 
1st  class  .......  
2d  class  
3d  class  

1,691,724 
1,967,773 
1,065,719 

4,635 
5,391 
2,919 

5     2-75 

2     2-25 
1     1-75 

2-11 
1-44 
0-92 

Totals  and  averages  — 

4,725,216 

12,945 

2     2-00 

1-44 

Twelve   months   ending 
June  30,  1847. 
1st  class 

1,725,759 

4,729 

4  10-50 

2-38 

2,098,080 

5  748 

2     0-75 

1-62 

3d  class 

1,324,163 

3  628 

1     1-75 

0-99 

Totals  and'averages  

5,148,002 

14,105 

2     0-00 

1  54 

Twelve  months  ending 
June  30,  1848. 
1st  class 

1,796,033 

4  920 

4  11-00 

2-39 

2d  class  

2,355,653 

6,454 

2     1-75 

1-63 

3d  class 

1,568,696 

4,297 

1     1-75 

1-00 

Totals  and  averages... 

5,720,382 

15,671 

1   11-75 

1-51 

Six  months  ending  De- 
cember 3],  1848. 
1st  class  . 

1,003,516 

5  498 

5     5-00 

2-38 

.2d  class  

1,360,468 

7,454 

2     2-75 

1-62 

3d  class  

919,317 

5,028 

1     2-50 

1-00 

Totals  aud  averages  

3,283,301 

17,980 

2     0-75 

1-51 

CHAP.  XIII.]    -  RECEIPTS.— TARIFFS.— PROFITS. 


237 


In  the  following  table  is  exhibited  the  proportion  per  cent, 
of  these  receipts  contributed  by  each  of  the  three  classes  of 
passengers  : 


TABULAR  ANALYSIS  of  the  Proportions  in  which  each  class  of  Passengers 
contributed  to  every  £100  of  Gross  Revenue  in  the  Six  Years  and  a 
Half  ending  December  31,  1848. 

1st  Class. 

2d  Class. 

3d  Class. 

For  Twelve  months  ending  June  30,  1843 

44-58 

41-83 

13-59 

1844 

43-60 

41-77 

14-63 

„                         „                   1845 

40-51 

42-34 

17-15 

1846 

35-80 

41-65 

22-55 

1847 

33-52 

40-76 

25-72 

1848 

31-39 

41-18 

27-43 

For  Half-Year  ending  December  31,  1848 

30-57 

41-45 

27-98 

This  table  exhibits  in  a  remarkable  manner  the  progressively 
increased  use  of  the  railway  made  by  the  inferior  classes  of 
passengers.  It  will  be  observed  that  the  proportion  of  the  entire 
revenue  contributed  by  the  second-class  passengers  was  sensibly 
the  same  during  the  entire  period  included  in  the  above  table, 
being  about  41-|  per  cent.;  but  while  the  proportion  contributed 
by  the  first-class  passengers  fell  from  44-|  to  30£  per  cent.,  the 
proportion  contributed  by  the  third  and  inferior  classes  rose  from 
13|-  to  28  per  cent. 

It  must  be  observed  that  the  actual  amount  contributed  by  all 
classes  of  passengers  gradually  augmented  throughout  the  period 
referred  to;  the  daily  receipts  in  1843  being  c£8500,  while  in 
the  last  six  months  of  1848  they  were  nearly  e£18,000.  The 
general  receipts  were  therefore  more  than  doubled  in  this  in- 
terval. 

It  is  also  worthy  of  observation,  that  while  the  average  re- 
ceipts proceeding  from  each  first-class  passenger  booked  grad- 
ually diminished  from  6s.  to  5s.  5d.,  the  receipts  proceeding  from 
those  of  the  other  classes  of  passengers  remained  nearly  stationary. 

The  relative  diminution  of  the  receipts  proceeding  from  the 
first-class  passengers  is  to  be  attributed,  therefore,  not  merely 
to  the  comparatively  smaller  number  of  these,  but.  also  to  the 
prevalence  of  their  traveling  shorter  distances. 

In  order  to  exhibit  the  operation  of  the  causes  of  local  varia- 
tion in  the  railway  revenues,  I  have  exhibited  in  the  following 
table  an  analysis  of  the  receipts  from  the  passenger  traffic  for 
eleven  of  the  principal  lines  of  railway. 


238 


RAILWAY  ECONOMY. 


[CHAP.  XIIL 


TABULAR  ANALYSIS  of  the  Revenue  proceeding  from  the  Passenger  Traffic 
of  the  Railways  of  the  United  Kingdom  during  the  Twelve  Months 
ending  June  30,  1847. 

FIRST  CLASS. 
London  and  Northwestern...  

Receipts. 

Average 
Receipts 
per  Day. 

Average 
Receipts 
per  Pas- 
senger. 

i  Average 
Receipts 
per 
Passenger 
per  Mile. 

£. 

513,796 
232,855 
•133,388 
124,220 
66,109 
24  6°2 

£. 
1,407 
638 
364 
340 
181 
67 
124 
263 
123 
120 
94 
1,004 

s.    d. 
9     2-75 
10     1-50 
8     3-25 
5  10 
6     4 
7     3 
7     4-70 
4     9-60 
5  11 
5     4-40 
3     8-25 
2     1-25 

d. 
2-193 
2-744 
3-000 
2-630 
1-944 
2-328 
2-625 
2-029 
2-484 
2-399 
2-220 
2-385 

Midland       

London,  Brighton,  and  South  Coast 

T         1               A  P    1   Vi      *• 

45,237 
95,822 
45,040 
44,011 
34,239 
366,420 

York  and  North  Midland  

All  the  remaining  lines  

Totals  and  averages  .. 
SECOND  CLASS. 
London  and  Northwestern  

1,725,729 

4,725 

4   10-20 

2-385 

450,113 
364,257 
165,168 
105,883 
83,620 
45,133 
69,978 
.     133,084 
59,956 
55,916 
53,186 
511,786 

1,233 
998 
452 
290 
229 
123 
192 
364 
164 
154 
146 
1,403 

3  10-30 
3     7-80 
3     6-50 
3     0-25 
3     6-70 
3     3-70 
4     2-75 
2     5-16 
1     3-80 
3     7-30 
2     1-50 
0  11-50 

1-450 
1-878 
2-000 
1-645 
1-339 
1-505 
1-750 
1-413 
1-495 
1-838 
1-630 
1-620 

Great  Western 

Midland  

London,  Brighton,  and  South  Coast 

London  and  Colchester  

London  and  Southwestern  

York  and  Newcastle      

York  and  North  Midland 

L  ancashire  and  Yorkshire  

All  the  remaining  lines  

Totals  and  averages  
THIRD  CLASS,  <fcc. 

2,098,080 

5,748 

2     0-80 

1-620 

213,133 

77  130 

584 
211 
359 
231 
114 
69 
60 
152 
116 
179 
223 
1,303 

1  11-40 
3     8-00 
1     1-30 
1      1-60 
1     3-75 
1      8-00 
2     1-90 
2     4-70 
1     3-60 
1     9-50 
0  10-75 
0     9-10 

0-948 
1-000 
1-000 
1-130 
0-844 
0-963 
0-750 
1-012 
0-959 
1-150 
0-954 
0-990 

Midland  

131,235 
84,390 
41,598 
32,638 
22,120 
55,499 
42,257 
65,407 
83,704 
475,052 

London,  Brighton,  and  South  Coast 
London  and  Cambridge  

London  and  Colchester 

Bristol  and  ,B  irmingham  

London  and  Southwestern 

York  and  Newcastle 

York  and  North  Midland    .. 

All  the  remaining  lines  

Totals  and  averages  
RECAPITULATION. 
First  Class 

1,324,163 

1,725J59 
2,098.080 
1,324,163 

3,6-27 

1     2-00 

0-992 

4,725 
5,748 
3,627 

4  10-20 
2     0-80 
1     2-00 

2-385 
1-620 
0-992 

Second  Class  

Third  Class,  &c  

Grand  totals  and  averages  

5,148,003 

14,100 

2     0-06 

1-535 

CHAP.  XIII.]       RECEIPTS.— TARIFFS.— PROFITS 


239 


The  sums  contributed  per  passenger  would  be  subject  to  a 
correction,  owing  to  the  circumstance  of  passengers  traveling 
from  one  railway  to  another  without  interruption.  Such  a  pas- 
senger figures  twice  in  the  estimated  number  booked,  once  in 
the  return  of  each  railway  over  which  he  passes. 

It  has  been  already  observed,  however,  in  reference  to  the 
average  distances  traveled  per  passenger,  that  this  correction 
would  have  so  slight  an  effect  on  the  results,  that  it  may  be 
neglected  without  sensible  error.  The  returns  of  the  clearing- 
house, in  which  the  through  passenger  traffic  is  given,  demon- 
strate this. 

In  the  following  table  I  have  exhibited  an  analysis  of  the  receipts 
proceeding  from  the  traffic  in  goods  during  the  six  years  and  a 
half  ending  December  31,  1848.  The  returns  do  not  supply 
the  quantity  of  goods  booked,  or  their  mileage,  and  I  have  there- 
fore been  compelled  to  limit  the  present  analysis  to  the  statement 
of  the  gross  receipts  : 


STATEMENT  of  the  Gross  Receipts,  proceeding  from  Merchandise,  Cattle, 
Carriages,  Parcels,  Mails,  &c.,  on  the  Railways  of  the  United  Kingdom 
during  the  Six  Years  and  a  Half  ending  Dec.  31,  1848. 

Total 
Receipts. 

Average  daily 
Receipts. 

£. 

1,424,932 
1,635,380 
2,233,373 
2,840,354 
3,362,884 
4,213,170 
2,461,663 

£. 
3,903 
4,481 
6,120 
7,781 
9,213 
11,543 
13,488 

„                           „                1844  

„                            ,                1845 

„                                               1846  
„                            „                 1847 

1848  

Half-year  ending  December  31,  1848.  . 

In  order  to  exhibit  the  local  variation  in  the  merchandise 
traffic,  I  have  given  in  the  following  table  (see  page  240)  an 
analysis  of  the  receipts  on  eleven  of  the  principal  railways  for 
the  twelve  months  ending  June  30,  1847: 

I  have  already  observed  that  the  first  projectors  of  the  modern 
railways  contemplated  chiefly,  if  not  exclusively,  a  traffic  in 
merchandise.  The  event  proved  to  be  the  reverse.  The  traffic 
in  merchandise  was  comparatively  little,  nearly  the  whole  revenue 
proceeding  from  the  traffic  in  passengers.  As  the  railways,  how- 
ever, have  become  more  extensively  developed,  and  improve- 
ments have  been  made  in  the  machinery  of  locomotion,  the  goods 
traffic  has  been  more  and  more  extended,  so  as  to  bear  a  con- 


240 


RAILWAY  ECONOMY. 


[CHAP.  XIII. 


TABULAR  ANALYSIS  of  the  Receipts  produced  from  the  Traffic  in  Mer- 
chandise on  the  Railways  of  the  United  Kingdom  daring  the  Twelve 
Months  ending  June  30,  1847. 

London  and  Northwestern  . 
Great  Western  
Midland  

Total 
Receipts. 

Average 
daily 
Receipts. 

Receipts 
^!ok«L 

».     d. 

8    5-28 
10  10-08 
4    4-68 

6    3-84 
8    5-88 
7    7-44 
5    4-00 
9    3-00 
1    7-80 
2    7-68 
5    9-96 
1    6-36 

Receipts  per  Ton  per  Mile. 

Average. 

Highest 

Lowest 

£. 

595,957 
201,320 
262,630 

49,216 
100,415 
31,760 
67,726 
68,635 
15-2,874 
58,971 
174,087 
842,402 

£. 
1632 
551 

719 

135 
275 
87 
186 
188 
418 
164 
479 
2308 

7142 

d. 
1-533 
2-542 
1-675 

3-560 
1-903 
1-903 
1-845 
2-344 
1-240 
1-166 
2-325 
1-675 

1-675 

d. 
2-451 

10-000 
3-700 
4-750 

7-260 
3-250 
3-000 
12-090 

0:783 

2-000 
1-000 
1-708 
1-140 
1-520 
1-250 
0.750 
1-000 

London,  Brighton,  and  Sou  h 
Coast  
London  and  Cambridge  .  .   . 
Bristol  and  Colchester  
Bristol  and  Birmingham  
London  and  Southwestern  . 
York  and  Newcastle  
York  and  North  Midland... 
Lancashire  and  Yorkshire  . 
All  the  remaining  Lines  

Total  and  averages.  .  . 

2,606,393 

3    2-20 

tinually  increasing  proportion  to  the  traffic  in  passengers.  In 
order  to  demonstrate  this,  I  have  exhibited  in  the  following  table 
an  analysis  of  the  relative  amounts  of  revenue  proceeding  from 
passengers  and  goods  for  the  six  years  and  a  half  ending  Decem- 
ber 31,  1848. 


TABLE  showing  the  Total  Receipts  for  Passengers  and  Goods  on  the 
British  Railways  during  Six  Years  and  a  Half  ending  Dec.  31,  1848. 

Year  ending. 

Total 
Receipts 
from  Pas- 
sengers. 

Received  for 
Goods,  Cattle, 
Carriages, 
Parcels, 
Mails,  &c. 

Total 
Receipts. 

Per  Cent,  of  Total  Re- 
ceipts contributed  by 

Passen- 
gers. 

Goods, 
&c. 

June  30,  1843 
„          1844 
„          1845 
1846 
1847 
„          1848 
Dec.  31,  1848 

£. 
3,110,257 
3,439,294 
3,976,341 
4,725,216 
5,148,002 
5,702,382 
3,283,302 

£. 

1,424,932 
1,635,380 
2,233,373 
2,840,354 
3,362,884 
4,213,170 
2,461,663 

£. 

4,535,189 
5,074,674 
6,209,714 
7,565,569 
8,510,886 
9,933,552 
5,744,965 

68-5 
67-5 
64-0 
C2-4 
60-4 
57-3 
57-4 

31-5 
32-5 
36-0 
37-6 
39-6 
42-7 
42-6 

It  appears  from  this,  that  while,  in  1843,  thirteen  years  after 
the  opening  of  the  Liverpool  and  Manchester  Railway,  the  goods 
contributed  only  30  per  cent,  of  the  gross  revenue  of  the  railways, 
they  contributed,  in  the  eighteen  months  terminating  December 
30,  1848,  more  than  42£  per  cent. 


CHAP.  XIII.]      RECEIPTS.—  TARIFFS.— PROFITS. 


241 


It  would  be  interesting  to  ascertain  the  proportion  of  the  gross 
revenue  of  railways  which  proceeds  from  the  different  classes 
of  traffic.  The  more  recent  railway  returns,  however,  supply 
no  data  for  such  a  computation. 

Until  1847  the  railway  commissioners  published  annually  re- 
ports of  the  traffic,  containing  some  useful  details,  but  since  that 
year  nothing  appears  in  the  reports  except  a  general  summary 
of  the  traffic,  which  for  statistical  purposes  is  almost  useless. 
I  have  taken  from  the  returns  for  1847  data  which  have  enabled 
me  to  calculate  approximately  the  proportion  of  the  receipts 
arising  from  certain  objects  of  traffic.  This  is  exhibited  in  the 
following  table  : 


TABULAR  ANALYSIS  showing  the  Proportion  in  which  the  Gross  Revenue 
proceeding  from  the  Railways  of  the  United  Kingdom  arose  from  cer- 
tain Classes  of  Traffic  during  the  Twelve  Months  ending  June  30,  1847. 

Receipts. 

Per  Cent, 
of  Total 
Receipts. 

£. 

20-3 
24-6 
15-5 
30-8 
0-8 
0-6 
0-3 
0-9 
0-6 
4.4 
1-2 

,,g      '  2d  class                            

2,098,080 

„           3d  class 

1,324,163 
2,606,393 
71,482 
53,091 
23,718 

Merchandise  

Cattle 

Sheep  

pigs    ; 

Horses  

78,549 
52,521 

Sundries  not  classed 

99,840 

Grand  total  

8,510,886     I     100-0 

It  appears  from  this  table,  that  in  the  year  referred  to,  the 
passenger  traffic  constituted  60  per  cent,  of  the  gross  revenue, 
the  goods  traffic  nearly  31  per  cent.,  the  remainder  arising  from 
baggage,  parcels,  &c.  It  also  appears  that  the  live  stock  and 
carriages  constitute  but  an  insignificant  fraction  of  the  revenue, 
not  exceeding  3  per  cent. 

A  most  instructive  and  interesting  light  might  be  thrown  on 
the  circumstances  which  determine  the  phenomena  of  railway 
traffic,  by  exhibiting  the  relations  developed  from  year  to  year 
between  the  receipts,  expenses,  and  profits,  and  the  length  of 
the  railways,  the  movement  upon  them,  and  the  capital  involved 
in  them.  But,  unfortunately,  I  have  not  been  able  to  obtain 


242  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XIII. 

any  authentic  or  exact  data  of  a  general  nature  for  this  purpose. 
The  receipts  alone  are  ascertainable  with  precision  ;  the  ex- 
penses and  profits  are  left  to  conjecture.  The  movement  on 
the  railways  might  be  exhibited  by  the  mileage  of  the  trains : 
but  we  have  these  only  for  particular  periods  and  particular 
railways.  It  happens,  however,  that,  in  all  the  cases  where 
this  mileage  is  given,  there  is  a  remarkable  accordance  in  its 
ratio  to  the  receipts.  By  dividing  the  one  by  the  other,  we  find 
an  almost  invariable  quotient;  the  conclusion  from  which  is,  that 
the  average  receipts  per  mile  run  on  the  railways  for  which 
authentic  returns  are  given  of  the  running  of  the  trains  are 
uniform.  In  the  absence,  therefore,  of  exact  data,  we  may 
assume,  as  a  means  of  approximation  which  can  not  widely  err, 
that  on  the  railways,  taken  collectively,  the  receipts  bear  this 
proportion  to  the  mileage  of  the  trains.  On  this  hypothesis  I 
shall  therefore  calculate  the  receipts  per  mile  run  by  the  trains 
on  all  the  railways. 

To  find  the  proportion  of  the  receipts  to  the  capital  expended, 
I  shall  assume  that  the  average  cost  of  the  railways  open  at  each 
successive  period  was  at  the  rate  of  6640,000  per  mile.  (See 
page  69.) 

I  have  therefore  calculated  the  following  table  (see  page  243) 
on  these  hypotheses,  in  the  successive  columns  of  which  are 
given  the  average  receipts  per  day,  per  mile  of  the  lines  open, 
per  mile  of  the  trains  run,  and  per  cent,  of  the  capital  ex- 
pended. 

It  appears,  from  the  result  of  this  computation,  that  the  daily 
receipts  per  mile  were  <£6  14s.  in  1843;  that  they  augmented 
until  1846,  when  they  amounted  to  <£8  10s.;  and  that  since  that 
date  they  have  regularly  diminished,  having  fallen  to  d£6  2s.  in 
the  last  six  months  of  1848. 

It  also  appears,  that  the  gross  receipts  on  all  the  railways 
collectively  have  never  amounted  to  eight  per  cent,  of  the 
capital  expended^  In  1846,  when  they  bore  the  highest  pro- 
portion to  the  capital,  they  amounted  only  to  £7  14s.  7d-  per 
cent.  Until  that  year  the  proportion  had  increased,  having  been 
<£6  Is.  9d.  in  1843.  Since  that  epoch  the  proportion  has  con- 
stantly diminished,  being  only  <£5  12s.  9d.  per  cent,  in  the  last 
six  months  of  1848. 

In  a  former  chapter  I  have  shown  that  the  increase  of  the 
transport  has  not  kept  pace  with  the  extension  of  the  railways. 
This  conclusion  may  be  further  illustrated  by  comparing  the 
receipts  from  the-different  classes  of  traffic  with  the  extent  of 


CHAP.  XIII.]      RECEIPTS.— TARIFFS.— PROFITS. 


243 


TABLE  showing-  the  Proportion  of  the  Receipts  on  the  Railways  of  the 
United  Kingdom  to  their  Length,  to  the  Movement  of  the  Traffic  upon 
them,  and  to  the  Capital  expended  on  them. 

Year  ending. 

Total 
average 
Receipts 
per  Day. 

Average 
Receipts 
per  Mile  of 
Railway. 

Average 
Receipts 
per  Mile 
run  by 
Trains. 

Average 
Receipts 
per  Cent, 
of  Capital. 

June  30,  1843. 

£. 

8,521 
3,903 

12,424 

£. 

4-6 
2-1 

s. 

7-0 
7-0 

4-18 
1-91 

Goods 

Total... 

June  30,  1844. 
Passengers  

6-7 

7-0 

6-09 

9,422 

4,481 

4-8 
2-3 

7-0 
7-0 

4-39 
2-09 

Goods  ... 

Total... 
June  30,  1845. 

13,903 

7-1 

7-0 

6-48 

10,894 
6,120 

5-1 

2-8 

7-0 
7-0 

7-0 

4-60 
2-59 

Goods  

Total- 
June  30,  1846. 

17,014 

7-9 

7-19 

12,945 
7  781 

5-3 
3-2 

7-0 
7-0 

7-0 

7-0 
7-0 

4-83 
2-90 

Goods 

Total..  . 
June  30,  1847. 

20,726 

8-5 

7-73 

4-25 
2-77 

14,105 
9,213 

23,318 

4-6 
3-0 

7-6 

Goods 

Total..  . 

June  30,1849. 
Passengers  

v     7-0 

7-02 

15,671 
11,543 

27,214 

4-1 
3-0 

7-0 
7-0 

3-74 
2-75 

Goods 

Total... 

Six  months  ending  Dec.  31, 
1848. 

7-1 

7-0 

6-49 

3-23 
2-41 

17,930 
13,488 

3-5 
26 

7-0 
7-0 

Goods 

Total..  . 

31,468 

6-1 

7-0 

5-64 

244 


RAILWAY  ECONOMY. 


[CHAP.  XIII. 


the  railways  on  which  this  traffic  was  carried.    I  have  done  this 
in  the  following  table  : 


TABULAR  ANALYSIS  showing  the  Proportion  which  the  Increase  of  Re- 
ceipts has  borne  to  the  Increase  of  Railways  open  during  the  Six  Years 
and  a  Half  ending  December  31,  1848. 

Twelve  months  ending  June  30,  1843. 

Railway 
open 
Miles. 

Daily 

Receipts 
per  Mile. 

Increase 
& 

Decrease 
Cent. 

•1857 
1952 
2148 
•2441 
3036 

£. 

2-04 
1-92 
0-62 

2d  class 

3d  class  

Total 

4-58 
2-13 

Goods       .  .   .            ... 

Grand  Total.. 
Twelve  months  ending  June  30,  1844. 

6-67 

2-11 
2-01 
0-71 

3-50 
4-75 
14-75 

2d  class 

3d  class  

Total  

4-83 
2-30 

7-13 

5-30 
8-00 

Goods           .  ... 

Grand  Total.. 

Twelve  months  ending  June  30,  1845. 
Passengers,  1st  class  

6-60 

2-05 
2-14 
0-86 

6~-50 
21-00 

3-00 

2d  class  .   . 

3d  class 

Total      .... 

5-05 
2-85 

4-50 
24-00 

Grand  Total.. 
Twelve  months  ending  June  30,  1846. 

7-90 

1-90 
2-20 
1-20 

5-30 
3-18 

10-70 

s'-ob 

39-50 

8-00 

2d  class  

3d  class 

Total  

5-00 
11-75 

Grand  Total.. 
Twelve  months  ending  June  30,  1847. 

8-48 

1-56 
1-89 
1-20 

7-20 

::: 

22-00 
16-25 

o-oo 

14-00 
4-70 

11-20 

2d  class  

3d  class 

Total  
Goods 

4-65 
3-04 

7-C9 

Grand  Total.. 

CHAP.  XIII.]      RECEIPTS.— TARIFFS.— PROFITS. 


245 


Railway 
open 
Miles. 

Daily 
Receipts 
per  Mile. 

Increase 
per 
Cent. 

Jecrease 
& 

Twelve  months  ending  June  30,  1848. 

£. 

1-29 
1-70 
1-13 

4-12 
3-02 

::: 

21-00 
11-00 
6-00 

2d  class 

3816 
•5007 

3d  class     

Total... 

12-80 
0-66 

Goods  .  .            ... 

Grand  Total.. 

Six  months  ending  Dec.  31,  1848. 
Passengers,  1st  class  

7-14 

7-75 

1-10 
1-49 
1-00 

- 

17-00 
14-00 
13-00 

2d  class 

3d  class  

Total 

3-59 
2-70 

14-75 
11-75 

Goods 

Grand  Total.. 

6-29 

13-50 

It  appears  from  this  table  that  after  1846,  when  2600  miles 
of  railway  were  brought  into  operation,  every  species  of  traffic 
began  to  decrease  in  proportion  to  the  length  of  the  railway 
worked.  The  receipts  per  mile  from  first-class  passengers  com- 
menced first  to  decrease  in  1845,  as  compared  with  1844,  and 
the  decrease  of  revenue  from  this  class  per  mile  of  railway  rap- 
idly augmented  from  year  to  year,  being  in  1846  8  per  cent., 
and  in  1847  and  1848  22  per  cent.  It  is  observable  also  that 
the  proportionate  increase  of  receipts  from  third-class  passen- 
gers was  considerably  more  rapid  than  the  other  classes  until 
1846,  when  it  was  nearly  40  per  cent,  more  than  in  the  preced- 
ing year;  and  in  accordance  with  this,  the  decrease  of  revenue 
per  mile  from  this  class  was  leas  than  the  decrease  upon  the 
other  classes  in  the  succeeding  years. 

The  revenue  proceeding  from  goods  per  mile  of  railway 
underwent  considerable  change,  increasing  until  1846,  and  de- 
creasing afterward.  Its  augmentation  was  more  rapid,  and  its 
decrease  slower,  than  the  revenue  from  passengers. 

Thus  it  appears  that  goods  and  third-class  passengers  supply 
a  more  steady  revenue  in  general,  in  proportion  to  the  length 
of  the  lines  worked,  than  the  other  classes. 

It  would  be  highly  important,  if  we  possessed  the  necessary 
data  for  the  purpose,  to  exhibit  a  classified  analysis  of  the  re- 
ceipts, expenses,  and  profits  on  the  English  railways,  showing 
the  amounts  of  these  respectively  for  each  class  of  traffic  and  for 


246 


RAILWAY  ECONOMY. 


[CHAP.  XIII. 


every  distance  ;  but,  as  we  have  more  than  once  observed,  the 
scanty  and  insufficient  reports  issued  by  the  directors  of  English 
railways  supply  no  means  of  forming  such  an  analysis. 

As  an  example,  however,  of  this  I  have  obtained  from  the 
official  reports  of  the  Belgian  railways  the  necessary  data  for 
this  purpose.  I  have  therefore  given  in  the  following  tables  the 
receipts,  expenses,  and  profits,  total  and  per  mile,  on  the  Bel- 
gian railways  for  the  year  1844. 


TABULAR  CLASSIFICATION  of  the  Receipts,  Expenses,  and  Profits  of  the 
Belgian  Railways  during  the  Year  1844. 

Classified  Traffic. 

Denomi- 
nation. 

Total 

Receipts. 

Receipts  per 
Unit  booked. 

Receipts 
per  Unit 
per  Mile 
carried. 

RECEIPTS. 
Passengers,  1st  class  

Number 

Tons 
Number 

£. 
63,645 
88,742 
92,853 
15,789 
37,526 
1,680 
8,253 
130,645 
2,557 
737 

s.    d. 
4     0-00 
2     1-25 
0  11-75 
36     7-00 
21     8-00 
24     5-00 
67     6-00 
5  10-00 
5     2-00 
0     4-75 

d. 
1-12 
0'90 
0-55 
8-35 
4-82 
2-70 
9-00 
1-57 
1-10 
0-11 

2d  class 

„            3d  class  

Parcels 

Horses         

Goods  

Tons 
Number 

Cattle  (large) 

„        (small)  

Total  Receipts 

442,427 

EXPENSES. 
Passengers,  1st  class  
„           2d  class  

Number 

Tons 

Number 

22,534 

25,898 
36,938 
13,862 
20,015 
1,106 
3,576 
95,723 
1,609 
627 

1     4-50 
0     7-10 
0     4-50 
30     9-00 
11     I'OO 
15     5-00 
28     1-00 
4     1-00 
3     2  20 
0     0-40 

0-38 
0-25 
0-19 
7-10 
2-50 
1-70 
3-75 
1-10 
0-65 
0-09 

3d  class  
B  aggage  

Parcels 

Goods 

Tons 
Number 

Cattle  (large)  

„       (small) 

Total  Expenses... 

PROFITS. 
Passengers,  1st  class  
2d  class  
3d  class  

221,888 

Number 

Tons 
Number 

Tons 
Number 

41,111 
62,844 
55,915 
1,927 
17,511 
574 
4,677 
34,922 
948 
110 

2     7-50 
1     6-15 
0     7-25 
5  10-00 
10     7-00 
9     0-00 
39     500 
1     9-00 
1     9-80 
0     3-35 

0-74 
0-65 
0-36 
1-25 
2-32 
1-00 
5-25 
0-47 
0-45 
0-02 

Parcels 

Goods 

Cattle  (large)  

„       (smllli  
Total  Profits... 

220,539 

CHAP.  XIII.]      RECEIPTS.— TARIFFS.— PROFITS.  247 

It  must  be  observed,  however,  that  in  estimating  the  expenses 
per  head,  or  per  ton  per  mile,  expenses  which  are  chargeable 
upon  the  traffic  independent  of  distance,  such  as  the  expenses 
of  the  stations,  are  shared  among  the  traffic  according  to  the 
average  distance  traveled  by  each  class. 

The  chief  financial  object  to  which  the  vigilance  and  skill  of 
those  who  direct  the  affairs  of  the  railways  ought  to  be  directed, 
must  be  to  render  the  render  the  ratio  of  the  gross  receipts  to 
the  gross  expenses  as  great  as  possible  ;  and  this  economical 
problem  is  of  a  complex  and  difficult  character,  involving  all  the 
points  of  railway  management  which  require  the  greatest  sagacity 
and  experience. 

Let  us  consider  the  elements  upon  which  the  amount  of  the 
gross  receipts  depends,  and  the  circumstances  which  govern  its 
variation. 

The  gross  receipts  depend  on, 

1.  The  average  tariff  of  transport  per  mile  imposed  on  each 

unit  carried. 

2.  The   average   number  of  miles  over  which  such  unit  is 

transported. 

3.  The  total  number  of  such  units  which  are  carried. 

It  is  evident  that  the  gross  receipts  may  be  augmented  by  the 
increase  of  any  one  or  more  of  these  quantities,  the  others  re- 
maining unchanged. 

But  over  the  second  and  third  the  managers  of  the  railway 
have  no  direct  control.  They  can  not  compel  the  traffic  to 
come,  nor  when  it  does  come  can  they  prescribe  the  distance 
which  it  may  require  to  be  transported.  These  two  elements, 
then,  can  only  be  indirectly  influenced  by  that  element  of  the 
traffic  over  which  the  managers  have  the  most  direct  and  abso- 
lute control,  viz.,  the  average  tariff  per  mile  exacted  for  the 
transport. 

The  problem,  therefore,  which  presents  itself  for  solution,  is 
to  investigate  the  manner  in  which  the  quantity  of  traffic  offered 
to  the  railway,  and  the  average  distance  to  which  it  is  trans- 
ported, can  be  influenced  by  the  charge  per  unit  per  rnile,  or 
the  tariff  to  which  it  is  subjected.  Let  us  consider  the  effects 
and  limits  of  this  influence. 

It  is  evident  that,  by  lowering  the  tariff,  the  quantity  of  traffic, 
as  well  as  the  average  distances,  will  be  augmented,  and  this 
increase  will  go  on  even  if  we  were  to  carry  the  diminution  of 
the  tariff  to  the  extreme  length  of  extinguishing  it  altogether, 


248  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XIII. 

and  transporting  the  traffic  gratuitously.  But  at  this  imaginary 
limit  the  receipts  would  be  nothing. 

On  the  contrary,  if  the  tariff  be  augmented  continually,  the 
quantity  of  traffic,  as  well  as  the  average  distance  it  is  to  be  car- 
ried, will  be  continually  diminished ;  the  magnitude  of  the 
charge  being  such  as  a  less  and  less  quantity  of  traffic  is  capable 
of  bearing.  A  limit  will  at  length  be  attained,  at  which  the 
traffic  will  altogether  vanish,  the  tariff  becoming  so  great,  that  no 
objects  can  bear  it.  Here,  again,  the  receipts  become  nothing. 

Thus  it  appears  that,  at  the  two  limits  of  a  vanishing  tariff 
and  a  prohibitory  tariff,  the  receipts  are  nothing.  Between 
these,  the  gross  receipts  vary,  augmenting  as  the  tariff  is  dimin- 
ished from  its  prohibitory  amount  to  a  certain  point,  and,  after 
passing  that  point,  diminishing  until  they  vanish  altogether  with 
the  tariff. 

With  a  vanishing  tariff,  the  traffic  is  a  maximum,  but  the  re- 
ceipts altogether  vanish  ;  with  a  prohibitory  tariff,  both  the 
traffic  and  receipts  vanish. 

The  relation  between  the  variations  of  the  tariff,  and  that  of 
the  receipts,  may  be  illustrated  by  a  simple  diagram. 

Let  distances  be  taken  along  the  horizontal  line  OX,  repre- 
senting the  successive  values  of  the  tariff,  and  let  perpendicu- 
lars, corresponding  to  these  distances,  be  taken  representing  the 
corresponding  amounts  of  the  gross  receipts.  These  perpen- 
diculars will  terminate  in  a  curve,  which  will  indicate  the  varia- 
tion of  the  amount  of  the  gross  receipts. 

Let  us  take  OX  to  represent  the  prohibitory  tariff,  which 
would  cause  the  traffic  and  receipts  to  vanish  together.  Let 
Om  be  any  other  value  assigned  to  the  tariff,  and  let  mp  repre- 
sent the  corresponding  amount  of  the  gross  receipts. 

If  we  assign  to  the  tariff  any  value,  such  as  Om'",  less  than 
the  prohibitory  value,  there  will  be  a  certain  amount  of  traffic 
and  a  certain  amount  of  receipts.  Let  the  amount  of  receipts 
be  expressed  by  the  perpendicular,  m'" ' p"'. 

Now,  if  a  less  value  still  be  assigned  to  the  tariff,  such  as 
Om",  the  receipts  will  be  augmented,  because  the  influence  of 
the  increased  number  of  objects  booked,  and  the  increased  dis- 
tances to  which  they  are  carried,  owing  to  the  diminution  of  the 
tariff,  will  have  a  greater  effect  in  increasing  the  gross  receipts 
than  the  reduction  of  the  tariff  has  in  diminishing  them.  By 
thus  gradually  diminishing  the  tariff,  the  traffic  will  increase 
both  in  quantity  and  distance,  and  the  gross  receipts  will  be 
placed  under  the  operation  of  two  contrary  causes,  one  tending 


CHAP.  XIII.]      RECEIPTS.— TARIFFS.— PKOFITS. 


249 


to  increase,  and  the  other  to  diminish  them.  So  long  as  the  in- 
fluence of  the  former  predominates,  the  gross  receipts  will  in- 
crease ;  but  when  the  effect  of  the  reduction  of  the  tariff  count- 
erpoises exactly  the  effect  of  the  increase  of  traffic  in  quantity 
and  distance,  then  the  increase  of  the  gross  receipts  will  cease. 
After  that,  the  influence  of  the  reduction  of  the  tariff  in  dimin- 
ishing the  receipts  will  predominate  over  the  influence  of  the  in- 
creased traffic  in  augmenting  them,  and  the  consequence  will  be 
their  diminution. 

This  effect  is  illustrated  by  the  diagram. 


While  the  distances  Om"1,  Om",  &c.,  are  gradually  dimin- 
ished, the  perpendiculars  m'"  p"'  and  m"  p'  Sec.  gradually  in- 
crease, and  the  curve  rises ;  but  when  the  distance  from  O, 
representing  the  tariff,  is  reduced  to  OM,  then  the  perpendic- 
ular ceases  to  increase,  and  has  attained  its  maximum,  which  is 
MP.  At  this  point  the  curve  ceases  to  rise,  and  when  the  dis- 
tance representing  the  tariff  is  further  diminished,  as  at  Om', 
then  the  perpendicular  m' p'  is  diminished,  and  the  curve  de- 
scends, for  in  this  case  the  influence  of  the  diminished  tariff 
predominates  over  that  of  the  increased  traffic  and  produces 
diminished  receipts.  This  goes  on  as  the  tariff  is  further  dimin- 


250  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XIII. 

isbed,  and  the  curve  descends  toward  O.  The  perpendiculars 
representing  the  receipts  continually  diminish,  and  when  the 
tariff  vanishes,  that  is,  when  m  arrives  at  O,  the  perpendicular 
itself  vanishes,  the  receipts  disappear,  and  the  curve  descends 
to  O. 

Thus  it  appears  that,  while  the  tariff  is  gradually  augmented 
from  its  vanishing  to  its  prohibitory  point,  the  gross  receipts 
gradually  increase,  arrive  at  a  maximum,  and  then  gradually 
diminish,  and  finally  vanish. 

The  problem  which  the  railway  manager  has  to  solve,  for  each 
description  of  traffic,  is  the  discovery  of  the  point  at  which  the 
gross  receipts  are  a  maximum.  It  is  to  adjust  the  tariff  so 
nicely,  that  the  influence  of  its  gradual  increase  in  diminishing 
the  receipts  shall  be  precisely  balanced  by  the  influence  of  the 
traffic  in  augmenting  them. 

But  it  is  not  enough  to  consider  the  influence  of  these  circum- 
stances on  the  receipts.  It  is  necessary,  also,  to  have  regard  to 
the  expenses ;  for  it  is  on  the  excess  of  the  receipts  above  the 
expenses  that  the  commercial  prosperity  of  the  enterprise  will 
depend. 

The  gross  expenses  may  be  considered  as  consisting  of  two 
parts : 

1.  The  expenses  which  are  independent  of  the  distances  to 
which  the  objects  of  traffic  are  carried.    These  are,  the  expenses 
of  direction  and  management,  the  maintenance  of  the  way  and 
works  (except  the  small  part  of  this  expense  which  relates  to 
the  wear  of  the  iron- work  of  the  road),  and  the  expenses  of  the 
stations. 

2.  The  expenses  which  are  in  the  direct  ratio  of  the  distances 
to  which  the  objects  of  traffic  are  transported.     These  are  the 
expenses  of  the  locomotive  power  and  the  carrying  stock. 

The  former  being  independent  of  the  transport,  properly  so 
called,  will  be  the  same,  however  the  average  distance  to  which 
the  objects  of  traffic  are  transported  may  vary ;  and  even  though 
that  distance  were  reduced  to  nothing,  as  would  be  the  case 
with  a  prohibitory  tariff,  this  class  of  expenses  would  still  remain 
unaltered.  Every  increase  of  traffic  produced  by  a  diminishing 
tariff  will  produce  an  increased  expense  ;  and  this  will  continue 
until  we  attain  the  imaginary  limit  of  a  vanishing  tariff,  when 
the  expense  will  become  a  maximum  because  the  traffic  becomes 
a  maximum. 

To  illustrate  further,  by  the  aid  of  the  diagram,  the  relation 
of  the  receipts  and  expenses,  let  us  take  the  imaginary  limit  of 


CHAP.  XIII.]       RECEIPTS.— TARIFFS.— PROFITS.  251 

a  vanishing  tariff,  and  suppose  that  the  traffic  is  carried  gratui- 
tously. Even  in  this  case,  however,  the  amount  of  the  traffic 
will  not  be  unlimited. 

A  railway  which  should  offer  transport  for  nothing,  would 
still  find  only  a  limited  number  of  passengers  and  a  limited 
amount  of  goods  demanding  the  change  of  place  which  it  offers. 
Let  us  suppose  that  the  expense  of  this  gratuitous  traffic  ib 
represented  by  the  perpendicular  O  Y. 

Even  when  the  traffic  altogether  vanishes  by  reason  of  the 
prohibitory  tariff  represented  by  OX,  there  is  still  an  amount 
of  expense.  Let  that  amount  of  expense  be  represented  in  the 
diagram  by  XT/.  Thus  we  have  represented  the  two  extreme 
limits  of  the  expenses,  O  Y  representing  the  expenses  which 
would  correspond  to  gratuitous  transport,  and  XT/  representing 
the  expenses  which  would  correspond  to  a  prohibitory  tariff. 
The  curve,  representing  the  expenses  in  a  manner  analogous  to 
that  which  has  been  already  explained  in  reference  to  the  re- 
ceipts, is  here  represented  by  a  dotted  line  extending  from 
Y  to  y.  The  expense  attending  the  traffic,  which  would  corre- 
spond to  the  tariff  represented  by  Om,  will  thus  be  represented 
by  mq;  the  expenses  of  the  traffic  corresponding  to  the  tariff 
Om'  will  be  represented  by  m'q',  &c. 

Now,  so  long  as  the  dotted  curve  lies  above  the  continuous 
curve,  mq  will  be  greater  than  mp  ;  or,  what  is  the  same,  the 
expenses  will  be  greater  than  the  receipts,  and  the  railway  will 
be  worked  at  a  loss ;  but  wherever  the  dotted  curve  lies  below 
the  continuous  curve,  then  the  perpendiculars  representing  the 
receipts  will  be  greater  than  those  representing  the  expenses, 
and  there  will  be  a  profit. 

The  curve  of  expenses  intersects  the  curve  of  receipts  at  two 
points,  s  and  s',  which  lie  on  opposite  sides  of  the  point  P  of 
maximum  receipts,  and  which  correspond  to  the  tariffs  repre- 
sented by  On  and  On'.  At  these  points  of  intersection*  the 
same  perpendicular  which  represents  the  receipts  also  repre- 
sents the  expenses,  and  the  expenses  are  therefore  equal  to  the 
receipts;  so  that  there  is  neither  profit  nor  loss. 

From  O  to  s,  that  is,  from  a.  vanishing  tariff  to  a  tariff  On 
which  renders  the  receipts  and  expenses  equal,  the  curve  of 
expenses  is  above  the  curve  of  receipts,  the  expenses  are  great- 
er than  the  receipts,  and  the  railway  is  worked  at  a  loss.  From 
s  to  P,  the  curve  of  receipts  lies  above  the  curve  of  expenses, 
and  the  perpendicular  representing  the  receipts  is  continually 
increasing,  while  the  perpendicular  representing  the  expenses 


252  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XIII. 

is  continually  diminishing;  consequently  the  difference  of  the 
two,  which  represents  the  profits,  is  continually  increasing. 

In  passing  from  P  toward  s',  the  perpendicular  representing 
the  receipts  diminishes,  but  the  perpendicular  representing  the 
expenses  also  diminishes.  A  question  therefore  arises,  as  to 
whether  the  pi'ofit,  represented  by  the  difference  of  these  per- 
pendiculars, both  diminishing,  will  increase,  diminish,  or  remain 
stationary.  It  may  be  easily  shown  that  in  starting  from  P, 
the  perpendicular  representing  the  expenses  will  diminish  more 
rapidly  than  that  which  represents  the  receipts ;  and,  therefore, 
the  difference  of  the  two  perpendiculars  which  represents  the 
profits  will  increase.  It  consequently  follows,  that  the  point 
of  maximum  receipts  is  not  the  point  of  maximum  profit,  but 
that  this  latter  point  will  be  found  somewhere  between  P  and  s', 
at  a  point  to  be  determined  by  the  condition  that  the  two  per- 
pendiculars, one  representing  the  receipts  and  the  other  rep- 
resenting the  expenses,  shall  decrease  at  the  same  rate. 

This  may  be  geometrically  expressed  by  stating  it  to  be  the 
point  at  which  the  two  curves  become  parallel  to  each  other. 
After  passing  this  point,  the  perpendicular  representing  the 
receipts  will  diminish  faster  than  that  which  represents  the 
expenses,  and  the  profits  will  diminish. 

It  is  therefore  demonstrable  that  the  point  of  maximum 
receipts  is  not  the  point  of  maximum  profits;  but  that  this  latter 
point  lies  between  the  point  of  maximum  receipts  aud  a  prohib- 
itory tariff. 

To  determine  this  point  of  maximum  profits  rigorously,  it 
would  be  necessary  to  express  the  strict  arithmetical  relation 
between  the  tariff  and  the  traffic.  Now  this  relation  will  be 
different  for  every  different  railway,  and  for  every  different 
class  of  traffic  on  the  same  railway ;  and  therefore  it  admits  of 
no  general  expression.  It  is  a  point  which  only  can  be  determ- 
ined by  tentative  means;  and  in  adjusting  the  tariff  so  as  to  cor- 
respond to  it,  the  highest  managerial  skill  will  be  shown. 

Although  the  strict  arithmetical  connection  between  the  tariff 
and  the  traffic  does  not  admit  of  any  general  expression,  we 
may  nevertheless  trace  some  particular  relations  which  will 
supply  practical  illustrations  of  the  principles  we  have  adverted 
to.  We  shall  take  as  an  example  the  goods  traffic. 

Let  r  express  the  tariff  imposed  per  mile  on  each  ton  of  goods 
carried. 

Let  D  express  in  miles  the  average  distance  to  which  each 
ton  of  goods  is  carried. 


CHAP.  XIII.]      RECEIPTS.—  TARIFFS.—  PROFITS.  253 

Let  N  express  the  number  of  tons  of  goods  booked. 

Let  R  express  the  gross  receipts  proceeding  from  the  trans- 
port of  goods. 

The  average  receipts  produced  by  each  ton  of  goods  carried 
will  then  be  expressed  by 

D  X  r, 

and  the  total  receipts  will  be 

R  =  N  x  D  X  r. 

In  like  manner,  let  the  actual  cost  of  transport  for  goods, 
properly  so  called,  per  ton  per  mile  be  expressed  by  e,  this 
being  understood  to  include  locomotive  power  and  the  expenses 
of  the  carrying  stock. 

The  cost  of  carrying  each  ton  booked  will  then  be 

D  X  e, 

and  the  cost  of  carrying  all  the  merchandise  booked  will  be 
N  X  D  X  e. 

Let  the  expenses  which  are  independent  of  the  movement 
of  the  traffic,  and  which  consist  of  the  share  of  direction  and 
management,  the  way  and  works,  and  the  stations,  chargeable 
to  the  goods  traffic,  be  expressed  by  E',  and  let  the  total  ex- 
penses chargeable  to  the  same  traffic  be  E.  We  have  then 


The  expense  chargeable  to  each  ton  of  goods  booked  will  be 

' 


If  the  profit  be  expressed  by  P,  we  shall  have 

P  =  R  —  E=:  ND(r  —  e)  —  E', 
and  the  profits  on  each  ton  booked  will  be 


This  is  equivalent  to  stating  that  the  profit  realized  on  each 
ton  booked  is  found  by  multiplying  the  difference  between  the 
tariff  and  the  expenses  of  transport  per  mile  by  the  average  dis- 
tance to  which  the  ton  is  carried,  and  subtracting  from  the  pro- 
duct the  expenses  which  are  independent  of  the  distance. 


254  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XIII. 

The  several  quantities  which  enter  the  preceding  formula 
reciprocally  influence  each  other  in  a  manner  which  it  is  im- 
portant to  notice. 

Any  diminution  of  r  (the  tariff)  must  produce  an  increase 
either  of  D  (the  distance  to  which  the  traffic  is  carried),  or  of  N 
(the  quantity  of  traffic),  or  of  both  of  these. 

The  increase  of  D  will  produce  a  decrease  of  c,  the  average 
expense  of  transport  per  mile ;  for,  in  general,  the  greater  the 
quantity  of  locomotion,  the  less  will  be  the  rate  per  mile  at 
which  it  can  be  executed. 

The  increase  of  N  will  produce  a  proportionate  decrease  of 

— ,  and  a  corresponding  increase  of  the  profits  per  ton  booked. 

If  the  decrease  of  (r  —  c)  be  in  a  less  ratio  than  the  conse- 
quent increase  of  D,  then  an  increase  of  D  (r  —  c)  must  take 

TjV 

place ;  and  since  the  same  cause  produces  a  decrease  of  — ,  an 

increase  of  the  profits  per  ton  booked  must  ensue. 

But  even  though  the  increase  of  D  should  not  be  in  a  ratio 
greater  than  the  decrease  of  (r  —  e),  an  increase  of  the  profits 

per  ton  must  ensue  in  consequence  of  the  decrease  of  —  . 

In  each  of  these  cases,  therefore,  a  diminution  of  the  tariff 
would  be  productive  of  augmented  profits. 

To  illustrate  this,  let  us  take  the  case  of  the  Belgian  railways, 
on  which  each  ton  of  goods  was  carried  the  average  distance  of 
45  miles,  and  produced  an  average  receipt  of  70d. 

The  expenses  chargeable  upon  it  were  51^.,  of  which  34<f. 
were  independent  of  the  distance,  and  I7d.  dependent  on  it. 

T> 

Hence  we  have  in  this  case  D  =  45  and  —  —  70d. 

N 

Hence  it  follows  that 

d. 
R         70 


We  have  also  D  x  e  —  17d.,  and  therefore 


and  since       =  34d.,  we  have 


CHAP.  XIII.]      RECEIPTS.—  TARIFFS.—  PROFITS.  255 

p  d. 

Z-  —  45  X  (1-55  —  0-377)  —  34  =  18-65. 

d. 
The  net  profit  per  ton  booked  was  therefore  18-65. 

The  manner  in  which  any  proposed  reduction  in  the  tariff 
would  augment  the  traffic,  either  as  to  quantity  or  distance, 
can  not  be  determined  in  a  definite  manner  by  the  preceding 
formula;  nor  could  it  be  by  any  formula  whatever,  inasmuch 
as  the  solution  of  the  question  would  depend  on  conditions  pe- 
culiar to  each  railway  and  each  class  of  traffic. 

If  we  assume,  however,  that  it  be  required  to  reduce  the 

tariff  (r)  so  that,  producing  the  same  net  profits  f—j    per  ton 

carried,  the  average  distance  (D)  to  which  each  ton  is  trans- 
ported be  augmented  in  any  assigned  proportion,  we  may 
approximate  to  the  required  tariff  by  taking  the  expenses  per 

/E'\ 
ton  (  —  J,  which  are  independent  of  the  distance,  at  the  same 

amount  as  at  present.  This  will  not  be  strictly  true,  because 
the  reduction  of  the  tariff  would  necessarily  augment  the  amount 
of  the  traffic,  unless  counteracted  by  some  other  condition,  and 
therefore  the  tariffs  which  we  shall  obtain  will  be  a  little  higher 
than  thosewvhich  would  give  the  same  profits  per  ton. 

Let  us  suppose  that  the  average  distance  to  which  each  ton 
is  carried  is  augmented  from  D  to  D',  and  that  the  tariff  is  re- 
duced from  r  to  r',  the  profits  remaining  unchanged  ;  we  shall 
then  have 


and  therefore 


From  what  has  been  stated,  we  have  on  the  Belgian  railways 

T>=     45, 
r  =  1-55, 
e  =  0-377. 
Hence  we  have 

52-78  =  D'  (r'  —  0-377)  ; 


256 

and  therefore 


RAILWAY  ECONOMY 


0.377. 


[CHAP.  XIII. 


By  this  formula  we  can  compute  the  value  of  the  tariffs,  r', 
which  correspond  to  any  increased  distances,  D'. 

In  the  following  table  such  a  computation  is  exhibited.  In 
the  fourth  column  a  series  of  increasing  distances  are  given. 
In  the  third  column  are  exhibited  the  corresponding  values  of 
the  tariff.  In  the  fifth  column  is  given  the  total  receipts  which 
would  be  obtained  for  each  ton  booked;  and  in  the  sixth  column 
the  total  expenses.  In  the  seventh  column  are  given  the  ex- 
penses per  ton  per  mile. 

By  this  last  column  is  rendered  apparent  the  increased  saving 
per  mile  on  the  expenses  of  transport  produced  by  the  augment- 
ed average  distance. 


Cost  of 
Transport 
per  Mile. 

bookedTn- 
dependent 
ofDistance 

Tariff  per 
Ton  per 
Mile. 

Average 
Distance 
carried. 

Total 
Receipts 
per  Ton 
booked. 

Total 
Expenses 
per  Ton 
booked. 

Total 
Expenses 
per  Ton 
per  Mile. 

E' 

R 

E 

6 

N 

r 

D 

N 

N 

1-55 

45 

69-7 

50-9 

1-13 

1-43 

,     50 

71-5 

52-8 

1-05 

1-33 

55 

73-2 

54-7 

0-99 

1-25 

60 

75-0 

56-6    • 

0-94 

1-19 

65 

77-5 

58-5 

0-90 

0-377  - 

34-0    • 

1-13 
1-08 

70 
75 

79-1 
81-0 

60-4 
62-3 

0-86 
0-83 

1-04 

80 

83-2 

64-2 

0-80 

1-00 

85 

85-0 

66-1 

0-78 

0-96 

90 

86-4 

68-9 

0-76 

0-93 

95 

88-3 

69-8 

0-74 

0-92 

100 

92-0 

71-7 

0-71 

From  this  table  it  appears  that  if  the  average  distance  to  which 
each  ton  of  goods  is  transported  were  doubled,  a  tariff  50  per 
cent,  less  than  the  present  would  yield  the  same  amount  of 
profit  per  ton  carried  as  is  now  obtained;  and  if  a  less  reduction 
of  the  tariff  would  produce  this  augmented  distance,  an  increased 
profit  would  arise  both  from  the  increased  quantity  of  goods  car- 
ried, and  from  the  increased  average  distance. 

It  may  be  useful  here  to  repeat  that  it  is  assumed  in  the  sec- 
ond column  that  the  constant  expenses  remain  the  same,  not- 
withstanding the  gradual  reduction  of  the  tariff. 

It  is  evident,  however,  that  these  expenses  must  be  diminished, 


CHAP.  XIII.]       RECEIPTS.— TARIFFS.— PROFITS.  257 

inasmuch  as  the  divisor  by  which  they  are  obtained,  being  the 
number  of  tons  booked,  must  be  augmented  by  the  reduced 
tariff. 

We  have  used  in  the  preceding  investigation  the  letter  r,  to 
express  the  average  tariff,  implying  thereby  that  the  rate  of 
charge  per  mile  upon  the  same  class  of  traffic  is  liable  to  varia- 
tion. This  variation  forms  a  question  of  capital  importance  in 
railway  economy,  and  one  which  is  too  often  overlooked. 

It  has  been  more  than  once  demonstrated  in  the  preceding 
chapters,  that  the  cost  of  railway  transport,  of  any  class  of  traffic, 
is  not  in  the  ratio  of  the  distance  to  which  it  is  transported.  A 
portion  of  the  expenses  is  independent  of  the  distance,  and,  con- 
sequently, it  follows  that  the  expenses  chargeable  per  mile  upon 
any  object  of  transport  will  be  less  as  the  distance  to  which  it  is 
transported  increases.  It  is  evident,  therefore,  that,  consistently 
with  realizing  the  same  proportion  of  profits  upon  the  business 
executed,  a  railway  company  can  always  afford  to  reduce  the 
charge  per  mile  in  a  greater  or  less  proportion  as  the  distance 
increases. 

The  distance  to  which  any  class  of  merchandise  admits  of 
being  transported,  will  depend  on  the  charge  which  such  object 
will  bear  in  the  market,  in  addition  to  its  cost  of  production. 
This  is  a  limit  which  can  not  be  surpassed,  and  this  limit,  com- 
bined with  the  rate  per  mile  charged  for  the  transport,  will 
determine  the  radius  which  limits  the  market  of  the  producer. 

Thus,  if  we  suppose  that  a  certain  description  of  merchandise 
will  bear,  in  addition  to  the  cost  of  production,  a  charge  of  10s. 
per  ton,  then  such  article  will  bear  to  be  transported  from  the 
place  of  production  a  number  of  miles,  determined  by  dividing 
10s.  by  the  tariff  per  mile.  If  the  tariff,  for  example,  be  Id.  per 
mile,  such  an  object  would  bear  to  be  carried  120  miles,  without 
surpassing  the  limit  of  price  which  would  become  prohibitory  in 
the  market. 

It  is  clear,  therefore,  that  every  reduction  which  can  be  made 
on  the  tariff,  affecting  the  larger  class  of  distances,  will  have  the 
effect  of  increasing  the  area  over  which  the  producer  can  carry 
on  a  profitable  business,  and  will  proportionally  increase  the 
available  traffic  of  the  railway.  For  lesser  distances,  the  reduc- 
tion of  the  tariff  will  only  have  the  effect  of  augmenting  the 
quantity  of  the  articles  transmitted,  and  this  can  only  be  effected 
in  the  proportion  which  the  reduction  of  the  tariff  can  effects 
diminution  of  price  in  the  market. 

A  duo  consideration  of  these  circumstances  will  easily  demon- 


258  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XIII. 

strate  the  advantage  which  must  result  to  the  railways  from 
such  a  graduated  tariff  as  would  favor  transport  to  greater  dis- 
tances. Let  us  suppose  an  article  transported  to  a  distance  of 
20  miles,  at  the  rate  of  2d.  per  ton  per  mile.  The  total  cost  of 
transport  of  this  article  would  be  40d.  Let  us  suppose  its  price 
in  the  market  to  be  100s.  The  cost  of  transport  would  then 
amount  to  31  per  cent,  of  the  market  price.  Now  let  us  suppose 
that  on  the  transport  of  such  an  article  a  reduction  of  10  per. 
cent,  were  made.  This  would  reduce  the  cost  of  transport  to 
36c?.,  or  3  per  cent,  of  the  market  price.  The  difference  to  the 
consumer  would,  therefore,  be  only  i  per  cent.,  while  the  dif- 
ference to  the  carrier  would  be  10  per  cent.  The  loss,  there- 
fore, to  the  railway,  would  be  thirty  times  the  amount  of  the 
gain  to  the  consumer.  It  is  clear  that  such  a  reduction  would 
be  inexpedient. 

But  suppose  the  same  article  to  be  transported  120  miles,  the 
cost  of  its  transport  would  then  be  240^.,  or  20s.;  and  suppose 
that  it  is  sold  in  the  market  for  120s.,  paying  the  producer  100s. 
and  the  carrier  20s.;  and  suppose  this  20s.  to  be  the  utmost 
increase  of  price  which  the  article  will  bear:  a  radius  of  120 
miles  would  therefore  be  the  limit  of  the  market  which  the 
railway  can  supply  to  the  producer. 

Let  us  again  suppose  that  a  reduction  of  10  percent,  be  made 
on  the  transport,  and  that  the  rate  per  mile  be  reduced  from 
2d.  to  l-8d.  An  addition  of  20  per  cent.,  or  20s.,  to  the  cost  of 
production,  will  now  carry  the  article  to  a  distance  of  132  miles 
instead  of  120  miles,  because  the  radius  which  determines  the 
market  of  the  producer  will  thereby  be  increased  by  12  additional 
miles,  or  in  the  ratio  of  10  per  cent. 

Although,  therefore,  a  reduction  of  10  per  cent,  on  the  market 
price,  which  in  this  case  would  amount  to  only  2s.  upon  an  arti- 
cle costing  120s.,  would  have  an  inappreciable  effect  on  the 
quantity  consumed,  yet  the  extension  of  the  market  by  the 
additional  distance  to  which  the  object  can  be  conveyed  would 
have  a  very  important  effect,  especially  if  within  such  increased 
radius  there  existed  centres  of  population  where  a  demand  might 
exist. 

But  if  we  suppose  these  circumstances  to  prevail  in  a  country, 
such  as  certain  districts  of  England,  closely  reticulated  by  rail- 
ways, the  increase  of  the  market  would  be  not  in  the  simple 
ratio  of  the  increased  radius  of  transport,  but  in  the  ratio  of  its 
square,  as  has  been  explained  generally  in  the  first  chapter  of 
this  volume. 


CHAP.  XIII.]       RECEIPTS.— TARIFFS.— PROFITS.  259 

The  effect  which  the  increase  of  the  average  distance  to  which 
the  traffic  is  transported  has  in  reducing  the  cost  of  transport 
per  mile,  is  strikingly  illustrated  in  the  fourth  and  seventh  col- 
umns of  the  preceding  table.  By  comparing  numbers  in  these 
columns,  we  find  that  the  following  are  the  rates  at  which  the 
expenses  of  transport  per  mile  are  decreased,  corresponding  to 
the  rates  of  increase  of  the  distances,  upon  the  actual  average 
distance  of  45  miles  on  the  Belgian  railways : 


Increased  Percentage 
of  the  present  average 
Distance. 

Corresponding  Decrease 
per  Cent,  of  the  present 
Cost  of  Transport  per 
Mile. 

11-1 

7-0 

22-2 

12-4 

33-3 

16-8 

44-4 

20-4 

55-5 

23-9 

66-7 

26-6 

77-8 

29-2 

88-9 

31-0 

100-0 

32-7 

111-1 

34-5 

122-2 

37-2 

It  follows,  therefore,  that  for  traffic  generally,  but  more  es- 
pecially for  every  description  of  merchandise  and  of  live  stock, 
a  tariff  graduated  upon  the  principle  of  diminishing  as  the  dis- 
tance transported  increases,  must  be  the  source  of  largely  aug- 
mented profits,  and  by  these  means  the  gross  receipts  of  a  rail- 
way may  be  increased,  while  the  average  amount  of  the  tariff 
may  remain  unaltered. 

Recurring  to  the  arithmetical  symbols  which  we  have  adopted 
to  express  the  gross  receipts, 

R  =  r  X  D  X  N, 

it  will  be  apparent  that  the  tariff  may  be  so  regulated  that  the 
average  value  of  r  shall  remain  the  same,  while  the  tariff  imposed 
on  objects  carried  to  considerable  distances  is  diminished,  that 
which  is  imposed  on  objects  carried  to  lesser  distances  being 
proportionally  increased.  By  such  means  the  number  expressed 
by  D,  which  is  the  average  distance  to  which  the  objects  of 
traffic  are  carried,  will  be  augmented  ;  and  if  this  modification 
of  the  tariff  be  managed  with  such  skill  that  the  multiplier  N, 
expressing  the  total  number  of  objects  booked,  shall  not  be 
diminished,  then  the  gross  receipts,  R,  will  be  augmented  in  the 


260  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XIII. 

same  ratio  as  the  average  distance,  D,  although  no  change  lias 
taken  place  in  the  average  amount  of  the  tariff",  r. 

It  may  be  contended  that  the  increase  which  must,  in  this 
case,  take  place  in  the  tariff  imposed  on  short  distances,  will 
have  the  effect  of  diminishing  the  number  of  objects  booked  for 
such  distances,  and  that  the  diminution  of  tariff  which  favors 
objects  carried  to  great  distances  will  not  altogether  counteract 
this  effect.  This  may  be  admitted  to  be  true  in  some  cases,  or 
even  generally;  but  with  skillful  management  the  diminution 
of  the  multiplier  N  will  not  be  so  great  as  the  increase  of  the 
multiplier  D,  so  that  ihe  effect  of  the  latter  will  prevail  over 
the  former,  and  therefore  there  will  still  be  on  the  whole  an 
increase. 

But  even  in  this  case,  in  which  the  diminution  produced  on 
the  multiplier  N,  or  the  number  of  objects  booked,  will  balance 
the  effect  of  the  augmented  distance,  and  therefore  the  gross 
receipts  will  not  be  increased,  the  gross  profits  nevertheless  will 
be  augmented ;  for  it  has  been  demonstrated  that  greater  profit 
is  made,  other  things  being  the  same,  on  long  than  on  short 
traffic. 

It  is  not  alone  by  reference  to  distance,  however,  that  the 
regulation  of  the  tariff  may  be  rendered  conducive  to  the  in- 
crease of  the  gross  receipts  and  profits.  A  field  for  the  exercise 
of  managerial  skill  is  presented  by  the  prevalence  on  the  rail- 
ways of  a  large  amount  of  empty  transport  and  incomplete  loads. 
It  is  well  known  that  traffic  has  a  tendency  to  prevail  more  in 
certain  directions  than  in  others ;  the  consequence  of  which  is, 
that  vehicles  of  transport  which  travel  with  complete  or  con- 
siderable loads  in  one  direction,  return  either  empty  or  with 
very  imperfect  loads  in  the  other.  In  this  case  it  is  clear  that 
any  objects  of  transport  which  might  be  attached  to  the  empty 
or  incompletely  loaded  vehicles  thus  returning,  would  yield  a 
profit  equal  to  nearly  their  entire  receipts,  for  in  this  case  the 
cost  of  their  transport  would  not  exceed  the  additional  fuel,  oil, 
and  grease  which  their  weight  would  cause  to  be  consumed  in 
the  engine,  and  the  additional  wear  and  tear  which  it  would 
produce  in  the  engine,  the  carriages,  and  the  rails.  It  has  been 
already  shown  how  infinitely  minute  and  insignificant  this  ex- 
pense would  be,  and  therefore  any  tariff,  however  trivial,  which 
could  be  obtained  from  traffic  attached  to  such  vehicles,  would  be 
profitable. 

The  same  observations  will  be  applicable,  more  or  less,  to  the 
traffic  which  may  form  the  complement  of  the  incomplete  loads. 


CHAP.  XIII.]     RECEIPTS.— TARIFFS.— PROFITS.  261 

It  has  been  already  explained  that,  in  the  case  of  merchand- 
ise-wagons capable  of  carrying  five  tons,  the  actual  average  load 
carried  by  them  is  only  two  tons  and  a  quarter. 

Now  the  cost  which  would  attend  the  remaining  two  tons  and 
three  quarters  necessary  to  complete  their  load  would  be  quite 
insignificant.  A  modification  of  the  tariff,  therefore,  which 
would  have  a  tendency  to  accomplish  this,  must  produce  a  favor- 
able effect  in  augmenting  the  gross  receipts. 

On  the  Belgian  railways  great  encouragement  has,  for  this 
reason,  been  offered  to  secure  complete  loads  of  the  goods  trains. 
A  liberal  reduction  of  the  tariff  is  offered  to  all  expediters  who 
will  engage  wagons  for  full  loads ;  and  this  has  been  attended 
with  most  favorable  results. 

In  the  case  of  passenger  traffic,  great  difficulties  exist  in  the 
solution  of  the  problem  to  obtain  complete  loads. 

It  has  been  shown  that  first-class  carriages,  built  to  accom- 
modate eighteen  passengers,  carry  on  the  average  only  seven  ; 
that  second-class  carriages,  capable  of  accommodating  twenty- 
four  passengers,  carry  only  thirteen ;  and  that  third-class  car- 
riages, having  capacity  for  thirty-two,  carry  only  twenty-one  pas- 
sengers. 

The  great  expense  entailed  on  the  railways  by  this  large  pro- 
portion of  empty  or  imperfectly  loaded  vehicles,  demands  seri- 
ous attention.  Although  it  is  evidently  impracticable  to  avoid 
the  evil,  its  magnitude  may  be  diminished  by  judicious  manage- 
ment. 

Something  may  be  accomplished  in  mitigation  of  it  by  a  care- 
ful classification  of  the  passengers  in  carriages  according  to  the 
distances  they  have  to  travel;  passengers  having  the  same  desti- 
nation being  as  far  as  possible  placed  in  the  same  vehicle.  This, 
combined  with  a  proper  distribution  of  the  carrying  stock  among 
the  stations,  and  facilities  for  attaching  and  detaching  the  car- 
riages there,  without  objectionable  delay,  may  do  much  toward 
its  mitigation. 

A  part  of  this  evil  arises  from  the  passenger  coaches  of  differ- 
ent classes  being  always  independent  of  each  other.  Thus,  if  a 
single  first-class  passenger  presents  himself,  no  room  being  avail- 
able in  a  first-class  carriage  composing  the  train,  it  will  be  neces- 
sary to  attach  a  first-class  carriage,  having  accommodation  for 
eighteen  passengers,  and  weighing  four  tons  or  upward,  for  his 
individual  accommodation. 

Nor  is  this  an  extreme  or  imaginary  case,  but  one  which  I  have 
frequently  witnessed.  This  evil  has  been  mitigated  on  some  of 
the  continental  railways  by  providing  mixed  carriages,  composed 


262 


RAILWAY  ECONOMY. 


[CHAP.  XIII. 


of  divisions  appropriated  to  different  classes  of  passengers,  one 
of  these  being  placed  in  each  train  for  the  purpose  of  receiving 
the  surplus  passengers  of  each  class,  without  the  necessity  of 
attaching  complete  vehicles  of  the  several  classes. 

Another  means  of  augmenting  the  receipts,  and  diminishing 
the  expenses,  consists  in  contriving  measures  to  secure  for  the 
engines  full  loads  and  long  trips.  An  engine  loaded  under  its 
power,  or  working  for  a  less  portion  of  time  than  is  consistent 
with  its  capability,  wasting  fuel  and  wages,  by  standing  with  steam 
up  without  work,  and  in  lighting  and  cleaning  more  frequently 
than  is  indispensable,  is  another  source  of  expense  needlessly 
increased. 

A  good  system  of  management  will  direct  its  affairs  so  as  to 
diminish  such  sources  of  wasteful  expense. 

In  relation  to  this,  it  may  be  useful  here  to  investigate,  so  far 
as  there  are  available  data  for  the  purpose,  the  relation  between 
the  mileage  of  the  engines  and  the  receipts,  so  as  to  exhibit  the 
average  amount  of  receipts  obtained  for  each  mile  run.  I  have 
exhibited  this  in  the  following  table,  for  all  the  cases  of  the  En- 
glish railways  in  which  I  have  been  able  to  obtain  the  engine 
mileage ;  to  which  I  have  added  some  of  the  foreign  railways, 
to  show  the  comparative  results: 


, 

Total 

Average  Re 

Mileage 
of  Engines. 

Gross 
Receipts. 

ceipts  per 
Milernnby 
Engines. 

Miles. 

£.. 

Northwestern  Railway,  including   the  Chester 

and  Holyhead,  Lancashire  and  Carlisle,  Ken- 
dal  and  Windermere,  and  North  Union. 

For  six  months  ending  December  31,  1848.  . 

3,766,115* 

1,324,227 

7-0 

London,  Brighton,  and  South  Coast. 

For  twelve  months  ending  June  30,  1848.  .  . 

1,189,295 

426,512 

7-2 

For  six  months  ending  December  31,  1848.  . 

691,383 

255,303    "•      7-3 

,,                   „         June  30,  1849  

593,844 

214,062           7-2 

Great  Western,  including  Bristol  and  Exeter,  and 

South  Devon. 

For  twelve  months  ending  June  30,  1847  .  .  . 

2,664,539 

979,754 

7-4 

June  30,  1848  ... 

2,876,108 

1,052,399 

7-3 

For  six  months  ending  December  31,  1848  .  . 

1,582,672 

571,799 

7-2 

Belgian  Railways. 

For  twelve  months,  1844  

1,584,532 

442,427 

5-6 

1845  

1,694,203 

496,128 

5-9 

„               „           1846  

2,027,014 

546,236 

5-4 

1847  .   . 

2,366,885 

593,444 

5*0 

North  of  France  Railway. 

For  twelve  months  1847  

1,789,152 

606,428 

6'8 

1848  . 

1*917  855 

592*682 

6*2 

*  This  is  one-half  the  engine  mileage  for  the  twelve  months  ending  June  30, 
1849,  which  I  have  assumed  here,  as  in  former  instances,  tis  the  nearest  approxima- 

tion I  can  obtain  to  the  mileage  for  the  half-year  ending  December  31,  1848. 

, 


CHAP.  XIII.]     RECEIPTS.— TARIFFS.— PROFITS.  263 

The  accordance  which  prevails  in  the  receipts  exhibited  in 
the  third  column  of  the  above  table,  is  most  striking  and  satis- 
factory. It  appears  that  the  average  receipts  per  mile  for  the 
distance  run  by  the  engines  on  the  English  railways  is  a  little 
more  than  7s.  per  mile. 

It  will  also  be  observed,  that,  notwithstanding  the  increased 
gauge,  and  consequently  augmented  power,  of  the  engines,  and 
capacity  of  the  carriages  used  upon  the  Great  Western  Railway, 
the  receipts  per  mile  are  not  greater  on  that  line  than  on  the 
London  and  Brighton. 

The  inferior  amounts  obtained  per  mile  on  the  Belgian  and 
French  railways,  may  be  ascribed  partly  to  the  inferior  tariff, 
and  partly  to  the  less  active  traffic. 

In  the  case  of  an  active  traffic  in  goods,  these  causes  of  in- 
creased expense  may  be,  to  a  great  extent,  mitigated.  More 
frequent  departures  from  the  chief  termini,  than  are  consistent 
with  securing  full  loads,  are  not  necessary ;  but  the  full  loads 
which  are  thus  dispatched  consist  of  wagons  having  various  des- 
tinations along  the  line,  at  which  they  are  severally  detached, 
and  where  other  wagons  are  not  prepared  to  be  substituted  for 
them.  Although,  therefore,  the  goods-wains  may  start  full, 
they  will  arrive,  and  perform  a  great  portion  of  their  trip,  very 
incomplete. 

In  the  case  of  passenger  trains,  frequent  departures  are  indis- 
pensable for  the  public  accommodation  ;  and  it  becomes  a  problem 
of  much  difficulty  to  fix  such  quantity  of  departures  as,  on  the 
whole,  will  produce  the  greatest  amount  of  profit  to  the  railway, 
with  all  reasonable  accommodation  to  the  public.  It  is  clear  that 
the  more  frequent  the  departures  are,  the  less  complete  will  be 
the  load,  not  only  of  the  engines,  but  of  the  carriages.  But,  on 
the  other  hand,  if  the  departures  were  so  few  as  to  secure  nearly 
complete  loads,  then  a  considerable  amount  of  the  traffic  would 
be  lost  to  the  railway. 

We  can  not  advance  a  step  in  investigations  of  this  kind,  with- 
out being  rendered  sensible  of  the  disadvantage  under  which  we 
labor  in  regard  to  the  English  railways.  We  are  left  absolutely 
destitute  of  all  statistical  data  which  could  afford  the  slightest  aid 
in  such  inquiries. 

On  foreign  railways,  however,  observations  have  been  made, 
which  indicate  some  of  the  laws  which  govern  the  circulation 
both  of  passengers  and  goods. 

Thus  it  is  found,  generally,  that  the  stream  of  passenger  traffic 
sets  in  toward  all  great  centres  of  population,  from  a  certain  dis- 


261 


RAILWAY  ECONOMY. 


[CHAP.  XIII. 


tance  around  them,  in  the  early  part  of  the  day,  and  prevails  in 
the  contrary  direction  in  the  latter  part;  produced  by  the  ne- 
cessity of  the  surrounding  population  visiting  such  centres  during 
the  day  for  the  purposes  of  business,  and  returning  to  their 
homes  in  the  afternoon. 

This  effect  is  frequently  augmented  at  certain  seasons  of  the 
year.  In  great  cities,  where  a  considerable  portion  of  the 
population  who  are  in  a  condition  to  use  the  railway  reside, 
during  the  summer,  in  the  environs,  places  of  residence  are 
selected  adjacent  to  the  different  lines  of  railway;  and  such 
persons,  being  generally  engaged  in  business,  arrive  by  the  rail- 
way in  the  cities  in  the  morning,  and  leave  in  the  afternoon. 

It  would  be  desirable  to  compare  the  receipts  and  profits  ob- 
tained from  year  to  year  by  the  railway  traffic,  with  the  ciipital 
absorbed  by  the  establishments  and  stock.  We  possess  no  re- 
turns by  which  we  are  enabled  with  precision  to  assign  the 
amount  of  capital  expended  on  the  railways  in  operation  from 
year  to  year,  as  distinguished  from  those  which  were  merely 
in  progress  but  unopened.  A  general  average  estimate  of  the 
cost  per  mile,  however,  of  the  entire  length  of  railway  under 
traffic  has  been  already  obtained. 

In  the  following  table  I  have  in  this  manner  exhibited  the 
proportion  which  the  receipts  have  borne  to  the  capital  during 
the  six  years  and  a  half  ending  December  31,  1848. 

Assuming  the  working  expenses  not  to  be  less  than  40  per 
cent,  of  the  receipts,  the  major  limits  of  the  profits  from  year 
to  year  are  given  in  the  last  column. 


Twelve  months  ending 
June  30,  1843  
„           1844  
1845  
3846  
1847  
1848  
Six  months  ending  Dec. 
31,1848  

Length 

Railwray 

open. 

Capital 
Expended. 

Total 
Receipts. 

4,535!  189 
5,074,674 
6,209,714 
7,565,569 
8.510,886 
9,933,552 

5,744,965 

Per  Cent,  on  Capital. 

Re- 
ceipts. 

6-1 
6-5 

7-2 
7-8 
7-0 
6-5 

5-6 

Minor 
Limit  of 
Expends. 

Major 
Limit  of 
1'rufit*. 

3-7 
39 

4-3 
4-7 
4-2 
39 

34 

Miles. 

1857 
1952 
2148 
2441 
3036 
3816 

5079 

74,280,000 
78,080,000 
85,920,000 
97,640,000 
121,440,000 
152,640,000 

205,160,000 

2-4 
2-6 
2-9 
3-1 
2-8 
2-6 

2-2 

These  figures  show,  that,  whatever  may  be  the  advantages 
of  particular  railways  as  investments,  the  aggregate  of  the  whole 
presents  no  signal  advantages  over  other  enterprises;  and  that 
they  have  been,  since  1846,  not  much  more  productive  to  the 


CHAP.  XIV.]          ACCIDENTS  ON  RAILWAYS.  265 

capitalist  thaa  the  public  funds.  It  is  probable,  however,  that 
the  depression  shown  in  the  results  of  the  last  two  years  may 
be  only  temporary;  nevertheless,  it  is  evident  that  the  railways, 
taken  in  the  aggregate,  have  never  yet  produced  a  net  profit  of 
5  per  cent. 


• 
CHAPTER  XIV. 

ACCIDENTS    ON    RAILWAYS. 

THE  advantages  of  increased  expedition,  economy,  certainty, 
and  regularity  of  traveling  presented  by  railways  have  been  re- 
garded by  a  large  part  of  the  public  as  subject  to  a  serious  draw- 
back, in  consequence  of  the  terrible  character  of  the  accidents 
which  from  time  to  time  occur.  These  disasters  have  been 
occasionally  attended  by  circumstances  which  must  naturally 
operate  in  a  very  forcible  degree  on  the  imagination  of  all 
persons,  and  powerfully  excite  the  alarm  of  the  timid.  To 
reduce  these  fears  within  reasonable  limits,  it  will  be  only 
necessary  to  investigate  the  actual  amount  of  the  risk  in  railway 
traveling;  and  to  diminish  as  much  as  practicable  the  amount  of 
that  risk  it  will  be  necessary  to  investigate  the  causes  of  accidents, 
and  to  deduce  from  these  causes  such  rules  for  avoiding  them  as 
the  circumstances  of  the  case  shall  suggest. 

I  shall  therefore  in  the  present  chapter  investigate  successively, 

1.  The  chances  of  accident  attended  with  loss  of  life  or  bodily 

injury. 

2.  The  prevailing  causes  of  such  accidents. 

3.  And  shall  state  some  plain  rules  for  the  greater  security  of 

the  traveler. 

SECT.  l.—The  Chances  of  Accident. 

The  accidents  which  are  incidental  to  railway  traveling  may 
be  reduced  to  two  classes : 

1.  Those  which  arise  from  causes  beyond  the  control  of  the 
sufferer. 

M 

- 


206  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XIV. 

2.  Those  which  arise  from  his  own  imprudence  or  want  of 
ordinary  caution 

The  chances  of  the  former  admit  of  calculation  as  accurate  as 
those  by  which  the  average  duration  of  life  is  ascertained,  and 
which  form  the  basis  of  the  operations  of  life  insurance. 

The  chances  of  the  latter  vary  in  each  individual  case,  de- 
pending on  the  vigilance,  the  personal  temperament  and  char- 
acter, and  often  on  the  degree  of  sobriety  and  state  of  mind  of 
the  persons  exposed  to  them.  Although  the  occurrence  of  even 
these,  when  considered  in  the  mass,  admits  of  calculation  on  the 
general  principles  of  the  doctrine  of  chances,*  our  present  object 
will  be  attained  by  indicating  the  manner  in  which  individual 
imprudence  and  neglect  of  proper  precautions  contribute  to  them, 
so  as  to  suggest  to  the  unwary  traveler  what  he  should  do  and 
abstain  from  doing  to  avoid  accidents  which  depend  solely  on 
himself,  and  to  lessen  the  chances  and  degree  of  suffering  from 
those  which  are  beyond  his  control. 

The  frequency,  as  well  as  the  gravity  of  each  of  those  classes 
of  accident,  depends  also  on  the  individuals  who  suffer.  The 
agents  and  servants  of  the  railway,  who  are  employed  directly 
and  indirectly  in  the  conduct  and  management  of  the  trains, 
including  those  whose  duties  detain  them  on  the  road,  as  well 
as  those  who  travel  on  the  trains,  are  more  exposed  to  danger 
than  the  traveler,  and  it  is  found  that  the  proportion  of  fatal 
accidents  is  larger  with  respect  to  this  class  than  in  the  case  of 
passengers. 

It  will  therefore,  in  classifying  the  accidents,  be  necessary  t< 
distinguish  not  only  those  which  arise  from  causes  beyond  the 
control  of  the  sufferer  from  those  produced  by  want  of  prudence, 
but  also  those  from  which  the  passenger  suffers  from  those  which 
occur  to  the  agents  and  servants  of  the  railway. 

In  the  following  table  (see  page  267)  the  accidents  which 
occurred  on  the  English  railways  in  the  years  1847,  8  are  thus 
classified. 

Hence  it  appears  that  in  this  period  of  two  years  243  passen- 
gers suffered  more  or  less  from  railway  accidents  from  which 

*  Some  curious  investigations  and  calculations  on  this  subject  have 
been  made  by  M.  Quetelet  of  Brussels,  who  has  even  shown  that  the 
frequency  of  murders  admits  of  being  reduced  to  a  numerical  law,  and 
that  the  ratio  of  the  number  of  murders  committed  with  particular 
weapons  is  constant.  Thus  the  proportion  of  homicides  by  the  pistol 
to  homicides  by  the  sword  is  invariable. 


CHAi'.XIV.] 


ACCIDENTS  ON  RAILWAYS. 


they  had  no  power  of  protecting  themselves,  and  that  of  this 
number  28  were  either  immediately  killed,  or  died  soon  after- 
ward in  consequence  of  their  wounds. 

It  further  appears,  that  in  the  same  period  87  agents  of  the 
railway  were  more  or  less  injured  by  accidents  from  which  it 
was  not  in  their  power  to  protect  themselves,  of  whom  30  were 
killed. 

The  proportion  of  deaths  to  the  total  number  injured  is  there- 
fore much  greater  among  the  servants  of  the  company  than 
among  the  passengers. 

While  only  11^  per  cent,  of  the  passengers  injured  lost  their 
lives,  34£  per  cent,  of  the  servants  injured  were  killed.  The 
cause  of  this  difference  of  proportion  is  signally  obvious  from 
the  fact  of  the  greater  exposure  of  the  railway  agents,  more 
specially  of  the  engineers  and  firemen,  to  the  more  dangerous 
effects  of  accidents. 


ANALYSIS  of  the  Railway  Accidents  for  the  Two  Years  ending  De- 
cember 31,  1848. 

Passengers  suffering  from  causes  beyond  their  own 

Killed. 

Injured. 

28 
23 
30 
232 

96 
2 
2 

215 
13 
57 
85 

22 
1 

Passengers  suffering  from  causes  which  they  might 

Railway  servants  suffering  from  causes  beyond  their 

Railway  servants  suffering  from  causes  which  they 

Trespassers  and  strangers  suffering  from  crossing  or 

Persons  suffering  from  misconduct  of  railway  servants 

413 

393 

But  to  estimate  duly  the  actual  degree  of  danger  incurred  in 
this  mode  of  traveling,  the  mere  numerical  amount  of  the  killed 
and  injured  is  not  sufficient. 

To  estimate  the  risk  of  suffering  from  accident,  it  will  be 
necessary  to  compare  the  number  of  sufferers  with  the  total 
amount  of  railway  traveling.  In  the  official  reports,  the  number 
of  accidents  has  hitherto  been  compared  with  the  total  number 
of  passengers  booked  ;  but  it  is  easy  to  show  that  such  a  com- 
parison does  not  afford  a  true  measure  of  the  risk.  By  adopting 
such  a  measure  wo  should  assume  that  there  is  the  same  risk 


268  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XIV. 

of  accident  to  the  passenger  who  travels  ten  miles,  as  to  him 
who  travels  five  hundred  miles,  which  would  be  an  obvious 
error.  The  risk  of  accident  to  any  passenger  is,  ceeteris  paribus, 
in  the  exact  proportion  of  the  distance  he  travels,  or,  to  use  a 
term  already  adopted,  of  his  mileage. 

To  calculate  the  risk,  therefore,  the  number  of  accidents  must 
be  compared,  not  with  the  total  number  of  passengers  booked, 
but  with  the  total  mileage  of  the  passengers. 

If  we  find,  for  example,  that  in  a  given  time  the  distance 
traveled  by  passengers  was  equivalent  to  500,000  passengers 
traveling  one  mile,  and  that  in  such  period  there  occurred  only 
one  accident  attended  with  loss  of  life,  it  will  follow  that,  when 
a  passenger  travels  one  mile,  the  chances  are  500,000  to  1 
against  encountering  a  fatal  accident.  If  he  travel  ten  miles, 
the  chances  are  50,000  to  one  against  such  an  accident;  and, 
in  general,  the  probability  of  such  an  accident  will  be  augmented 
in  the  exact  ratio  in  which  the  distance  traveled  is  increased.* 

In  the  two  years  ending  the  31st  of  December,  1848,  the 
total  mileage  of  the  passengers  on  the  railways  of  the  United 
Kingdom,  was 

1,830,184,617  miles. 

The  number  of  accidents  to  passengei's  attended  with  loss  of 
life,  arising  from  causes  beyond  their  own  control,  in  the  same 
period,  was  28.  Dividing  the  mileage,  therefore  by  28,  we  ob- 
tain the  quotient, 

65,363,736. 

Hence  it  appears  that  if  a  passenger  travel  one  mile,  the  chances 
against  his  suffering  an  accident  fatal  to  life  are 

65,363,735  to  1. 

*  More  strictly,  the  chances  in  these  cases  would  be  499,999  and 
49,999  to  1.  Of  500,000  balls  contained  in  an  urn,  1  is  black.  Sup- 
posing balls  to  be  successively  drawn,  and  returned  to  the  urn  after 
each  drawing,  the  chance  of  no  black  ball  in  ten  drawings  would  be 
/499  999\ ^ 
Ir-jr  —  J  .  The  chance  of  one  or  more  black  balls  is, 

^  / 499,999 \10_i/  1       \">_       10  1 

~~\500,000/  \          500,0007      ~~  500,000  ~  50,000  ' 

very  nearly. 

I  have,  in  this  and  like  cases,  taken  the  round  numbers,  as  practically 
exact  and  more  convenient. 


CHAP   XIV.]  ACCIDENTS  ON  RAILWAYS.  269 

In  the  same  period  the  number  of  accidents  attended  with 
bodily  injury  to  passengers,  arising  from  causes  beyond  their 
own  control,  was  215.  Dividing  this  in  the  same  manner  into 
the  total  mileage,  we  find  that  the  chances  against  such  an  acci- 
dent in  traveling  one  mile  are 

8,512,486  to  1. 

In  each  case  we  find  the  chances  for  greater  distances  by 
dividing  these  numbers  by  the  distances  respectively. 

In  the  subjoined  table  I  have  given  in  the  second  and  third 
columns  the  chances  against  such  accidents  for  all  distances 
under  10,000  miles. 

It  must  be  here  observed  that  in  this  calculation  every  acci- 
dent productive  of  the  slightest  bodily  injury,  even  the  smallest 
bruise  or  scratch,  is  included. 

While  the  numbers  registered  in  these  columns  will  reassure 
the  timid,  the  solicitude  of  the  humane  passenger  will  be  ex- 
tended to  the  agents  and  servants  who  are  employed  in  con- 
ducting the  train  and  in  guarding  and  watching  the 'railway,  on 
whose  vigilance  and  skill  depen'ds  in  a  great  degree  the  ex- 
tremely small  amount  of  risk  of  the  passenger,  and  to  whom,  in 
fact,  is  transferred  a  part  of  that  danger  to  which  the  passenger 
himself  would  otherwise  be  exposed.  It  will  therefore  be  satis- 
factory to  calculate  the  amount  of  the  risk  to  which  each  railway 
passenger  exposes  the  agents  by  whom  the  business  of  transport 
is  conducted. 

It  appears,  by  the  results  given  in  table,  p.  267,  that  in  the 
two  years  ending  31st  Dec.  1848,  the  number  of  accidents  fatal 
to  life  occurring  to  railway  servants,  from  causes  beyond  their 
own  control,  was  30,  and  the  number  resulting  in  personal 
injury  was  57.  These  accidents  occurred  in  conducting  both 
the  passenger  and  the  goods  business,  and  ought,  therefore,  to 
be  shared  between  them  in  the  ratio  of  the  mileage  of  the  pas- 
senger and  goods  trains. 

I  have  no  general  data  by  which  this  can  be  ascertained,  and 
it  varies  very  much  on  different  railways.  If,  however,  we  take 
as  a  mean  the  business  done  on  the  extensive  lines  of  railway 
worked  by  the  Northwestern  Company,  I  find  that  the  mileage 
of  the  passenger  engines  beai-s  to  that  of  the  goods  engines  the 
ratio  of  5  to  3. 

From  this  it  would  follow  that  three-eighths  of  the  accidents 
ought  to  be  assigned  to  the  goods  business.  But  as  the  relative 


- 


270  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XIV 

frequency  of  accidents  is  greater  with  passenger  than  with 
goods  trains,  we  shall  assume  that  five-sixths  of  all  the  accidents 
to  railway  servants  are  produced,  directly  or  indirectly,  by  pas- 
senger trains. 

It  follows,  then,  that  in  the  two  years  above  mentioned,  25 
fatal  accidents,  and  50  accidents  resulting  in  personal  injuries, 
occurred  to  railway  servants  from  passenger  trains. 

During  that  period,  as  has  been  shown,  the  total  passenger 
transport  was  equivalent  to  1,830,184,617  passengers  carried  a 
mile.  If  we  divide  this  total  mileage  of  the  passengers  by  25, 
we  obtain  the  quotient, 

732,073,847, 

which  is  the  number  of  passengers  who  must  travel  one  mile  to 
cause  the  death  of  a  railway  servant ;  and  if  we  divide  the  same 
mileage  by  50,  we  obtain 

366,036,923, 

which  is  the  number  who  must  travel  one  mile  o  cause  the 
injury  of  a  railway  servant. 

But  whenever  one  passenger  travels  a  mile,  as  many  others 
also  travel  a  mile  as  make  up  the  average  load  of  a  passenger 
train.  There  are  no  general  data  recorded  from  which  this 
average  load  can  be  accurately  deduced,  but  it  may  be  estimated 
at  about  50  for  all  the  railways,  taken  one  with  another. 

Hence,  whei-ever  one  individual  travels  a  mile  by  railway,  50 
passengers  travel  a  mile,  and  the.  mileage  50  is  performed.  To 
calculate  the  corresponding  number  of  accidents  to  railway  serv- 
ants we  must,  therefore,  divide  the  preceding  numbers  respect- 
ively by  50. 

Hence  it  appears  that  when  a  passenger  travels  a  mile,  the 
chances  against  such  a  fatal  accident  are 

14,641,477  to  1; 

and  the  chances  against  an  accident  producing  personal  injury 
are 

7,320,738  to  1. 

The  chances  corresponding  to  greater  distances  are  found  by 
dividing  these  numbers  by  the  distance  traveled. 


CHAP.  XIV.] 


ACCIDENTS  ON  RAILWAYS. 


271 


TABLE  showing  the  Number  of  Chances  to  One  against  Accidents  pro- 
ducing Loss  of  Life  or  bodily  Injury  to  a  Railway  Passenger  in  travel- 
ing Distances  from  10  Miles  to  10,000  Miles  ;  and  also  the  Chances 
against  his  being  the  Cause  of  Loss  of  Life  or  bodily  Injury  to  a  Rail- 
way Servant  in  such  a  Journey.* 

Distance 

Passenger. 

Railway  Servant. 

traveled. 

Loss  of  Life. 

Bodily  Injury. 

Loss  of  Life. 

Bodily  Injury. 

MUea. 

10 

6,536,374 

851,249 

1,464,148 

732,074 

20 

3,268,187 

525,624 

732,074 

366.037 

30 

2,178,791 

283,749 

488,049 

244,024 

40 

1,634,093 

212,812 

366,037 

183,018 

50 

1,307,275 

170,250 

292  829 

146,415 

60 

1,089,396 

141,875 

244,'o24 

122,012 

70 

933,768 

121,607 

209,164 

104,582 

80 

817,047 

106,406 

183,018 

91,509 

90 

726,264 

94,582 

162,683 

81,341 

100 

653,637 

85,125 

146,415 

73,207 

120 

544,698 

70,937 

122,012 

61,006 

140 

466,884 

60,303 

104,583 

52,291 

160 

408,523 

53,203 

91,509 

45,754 

180 

363,132 

47,291 

81,341 

40,670 

200 

326,819 

42,562 

73,207 

36,604 

250 

261,455 

35,050 

.58,566 

29,283 

300 

217,879 

28,375 

48,805 

24,402 

350 

186,754. 

24,321 

41,833 

20,916 

400 

163,409 

21,281 

36.604 

18,302 

450 

145,253 

18,916 

32,536 

16,268 

500 

130,727 

17,025 

29  283 

14,641 

550 

118,843 

15,477 

2e',621 

13,310 

600 

108,939 

14,187 

24,402 

12,201 

650 

100,559 

13,096 

22  525 

11,263 

700 

93,377 

12,161 

20*916 

10,458 

750 

87,152 

11,350 

19,522 

9,761 

800 

81,705 

10,641 

18,302 

9,151 

850 

76,898 

10,015 

17,225      • 

8,613 

900 

72,626 

9,458 

16,268 

8,134 

950 

68,804 

8,961 

15,412 

7,706 

1,000 

65,363 

8,513 

14,641 

7,320 

1,500 

43,575 

5,675 

9,761 

4,880 

2,000 

32,682 

4,256 

7,321 

3,660 

2,500 

26,145 

3,405 

5,856 

2,928 

3,000 

21,788 

2,837 

4,880 

2,440 

3,500 

18,675 

2,432 

4,183 

2,092 

4,000 

16,340 

2,128 

3,660 

1,830 

4,500 

14,525 

1,892 

3,254 

1,627 

5,000 

13,073 

1,702 

2,928 

1,464 

5,500 

11,884 

1,548 

2,662 

1,331 

6,000 

10,894 

1,419 

2,440 

220 

6,500 

10,056 

1,310 

2,  252 

126 

7,000 

9,338 

1,216 

2',092 

045 

7,500 

8,715 

1,135 

1,952 

976 

8,000 

8,170 

1,064 

1,830 

915     , 

8,500 

7,6-89 

1,002 

1,722 

861 

9,000 

7,262 

946 

1,627 

813 

9,500 

6,880 

896 

1,541 

771 

10,000 

6,536 

851 

1,464 

732 

*  ThP  numbers  given  in  this  table  are  only  : 
all  practical  purpose". 


ive,  but  sufficiently  exact  for 


272  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XIV. 

To  illustrate  the  application  of  this  table,  let  us  suppose  it 
to  be  required  to  ascertain  the  risk  of  life  or  bodily  injury  to 
a  passenger,  and  also  the  chances  against  his  being  the  cause 
of  death  or  injury  to  a  railway  servant  in  traveling  250  miles. 
On  finding  250  in  the  first  column,  we  find  that  the  chances 
against  loss  of  life  are 

For  passenger,  261,455  to  1  ; 

For  railway  servant,  58,566  to  1 ; 

and  against  any  bodily  injury  not  resulting  in  death, 

For  passenger,  34,050  to  1 ; 

For  railway  servant,  .  29,283  to  1. 

On  the  foreign  railways,  the  ratio  of  accidents  to  the  quantity 
of  traffic  is  still  less,  owing  to  the  less  crowded  state  of  the 
lines.  On  the  Belgian  railways,  during  the  three  years  ending 
1st  Dec.,  1846,  there  were  but  three  fatal  accidents  to  passen- 
gers arising  from  causes  beyond  their  own  control,  and  the 
total  passenger  mileage  in  these  three  years  was, 

239,629,541  miles. 

The  chances  against  loss  of  life  in  traveling  a  mile  were, 
therefore, 

79,876,383  to  1. 
On  the  railways  of  the  United  Kingdom  the  chances  are, 

65,363,735  to  1. 

The  Belgian  railways  are,  therefore,  subject  to  less  risk  than 
the  English,  in  the  ratio  of  65  to  79. 

On  the  French  railways  accidents  have  been  still  more  rare. 
One  fatal  accident  occurred  many  years  ago  on  the  Paris  and 
Versailles  Railway,  on  which  occasion  a  train  took  fire,  and 
appalling  consequences  followed.  Another  serious  accident 
occurred  on  the  Fampoux  embankment  of  the  Northern  Rail- 
v/ay,  in  1846.  These,  however,  stand  almost  alone. 

In  the  two  years  ending  31st  Dec.,  1848,  there  was  not  a 
single  fatal  accident  to  a  passenger  reported  on  any  French 
railway. 

It  may  not  be  uninteresting  to  put  in  juxtaposition  with  this 
the  returns  of  accidents  produced  by  ordinary  horse-coaches, 
ti-aveling  in  Paris  and  its  environs ; 


CHAP.  XIV.]  ACCIDENTS  ON  RAILWAYS.  273 

Year.  Killed  Wounded. 

1834 4  134 

1835 12  214 

1836 5  220 

1837 11  361 

1838 19  366 

1839 9  384 

1840 14  394 

Total  . .  . .   74  2073 


SECT.  II.—  The  Causes  of  Accidents. 

However  insignificant  may  be  the  proportion  of  the  number 
of  persons  injured  to  the  total  amount  of  passenger  traffic,  it 
may  not  be  without  interest  or  utility  to  inquire  into  the  causes 
which  produced  these  accidents. 

The  causes  which  are  not  dependent  on  the  imprudence  of 
the  sufferers  are,  generally,  either  collision  of  the  passenger 
train  with  some  other  carriages  or  wagons,  or  the  escape  of 
the  train,  or  some  part  of  it,  from  the  rails. 

The  English  railways  are  in  general  constructed  with  double 
lines,  the  train  observing  the  common  rule  of  the  road,  and 
keeping  always  on  the  left-hand  line.  The  consequence  of 
this  is,  that,  in  regular  work,  all  trains  upon  the  same  line  move 
in  the  same  direction.  The  collision  of  one  train  with  another, 
therefore,  can  only  take  place  by  a  faster  train  overtaking  a 
slower,  or  a  train  running  into  one  which  is  at  rest. 

It  is  evident,  therefore,  that,  if  all  trains  moved  with  the 
same  speed,  and  all  stopped  at  the  same  stations,  no  collisions 
could  ever  happen,  except  when  a  train  should  be  retarded  or 
stopped  by  accident,  or  in  the  case  of  a  vehicle  being  improperly 
left  standing  on  the  line. 

The  probabilities  of  collision  will  therefore  depend  on  the 
differences  between  the  speed  with  which  the  several  trains 
travel,  and  the  differences  between  the  number  of  stations  at 
which  they  stop. 

But,  on  railways  as  worked  at  present,  it  is  impracticable  to 
maintain  uniformity  of  speed.  Passenger  and  goods  traffic 
being  necessarily  worked  on  the  same  line  of  rails,  and  the 
latter  being  carried  at  less  speed  than  the  former,  a  source  of 
danger  is  produced.  If  the  present  enormous  amount  of  trans- 
port had  been  foreseen  when  railways  were  in  an  early  stage 
of  their  progress,  it  might  have  been  a  question  for  considera- 


274  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XIV. 

tion  whether  it  would  not  have  been  advantageous  to  construct 
the  trunk  railways  with  three  lines  of  rails,  reserving  one  line 
exclusively  for  the  goods  traffic.  This  would  have  been  infinite- 
ly more  politic  than  augmenting  the  capacity  of  the  railway  by 
increasing  the  width  of  the  rails,  and,  consequently,  the  magni- 
tude and  weight  of  the  engines  and  vehicles  of  transport.  But 
the  railways  being  constructed,  it  is  now  too  late,  and  nothing 
remains  to  be  done  but  to  adopt  the  most  efficient  precautions 
against  those  collisions,  the  probability  of  which  is  augmented 
with  the  frequency  of  the  trains,  and  the  differences  of  their 
average  speed. 

The  accommodation  of  the  public  requires  frequent  depart- 
ures, great  expedition,  and  means  of  arriving  at  numerous  in- 
termediate points  of  the  lines.  These  demands  can  not  be 
satisfied  without  calling  into  existence  all  the  conditions  which 
are  productive  of  the  danger  of  collision. 

To  satisfy  the  urgent  call  for  great  expedition,  express  trains 
are  dispatched  at  extraordinary  speed,  stopping  only  at  chief 
stations.  To  satisfy  the  want  of  intercommunication  with  the 
intermediate  stations,  trains  are  dispatched  which  stop  at  all 
the  stations ;  and  as  the  stations,  in  the  average,  are  not  four 
miles  asunder,  these  trains  must  be  in  a  state  either  of  retarded 
or  accelerated  motion.  They  scarcely  get  up  their  speed  after 
starting  from  one  station,  before  they  are  obliged  to  slacken 
their  pace,  in  order  to  stop  at  the  next.  The  average  speed 
of  such  trains  is  therefore  comparatively  small. 

Between  these  and  the  express  trains,  which  present  the 
extremes  of  speed,  there  are  several  which  move  at  interme- 
diate average  rates,  stopping  less  frequently  than  the  one,  and 
more  so  than  the  other,  and,  when  at  full  speed,  proceeding 
with  a  less  velocity  than  the  express  trains. 

When  all  these  circumstances  are  taken  into  account,  and 
when  it  is  also  considered  that,  on  some  of  the  great  trunk 
lines,  such  as  the  Northwestern,  as  many  as  fifty  trains  pass 
over  the  same  rails  every  twenty-four  hours,  more  than  the 
half  of  which  are  worked  during  the  day,  and  therefore  succeed 
each  other  at  very  short  intervals,  the  wonder  is,  not  that  col- 
lisions occasionally  occur,  but  that  a  movement  so  crowded  and 
complicated  can  be  conducted  at  all,  without  most  imminent 
danger. 

The  most  frequent  source  of  accidents  from  collision,. arises 
from  single  wagons  or  trucks  being  left  standing  upon  the 
rails. 


CHAP.  XIV.]  ACCIDENTS  ON  RAILWAYS.  275 

When  express  trains  have  to  be  stopped,  the  steam  must 
be  cut  off,  and  the  brakes  applied  at  a  considerable  distance 
from  the  place  where  they  come  to  rest.  Hence  arises 
the  greater  liability  of  accidents  by  collision  with  these  trains 
If  an  obstacle  is  observed  upon  the  railway  by  the  en- 
gine-driver, it  must  be  noticed  at  a  distance  so  great  as  to 
render  it  possible  to  stop  the  train,  otherwise  collision  must 
take  place. 

Next  in  frequency  to  accidents  from  collision,  are  those  which 
arise  from  the  engine  or  the  vehicles  escaping  from  the  rails. 
The  causes  which  produce  this  class  of  accidents  are  very 
various. 

The  most  frequent  are  impediments  left  on  the  rails,  such 
as  blocks  of  wood,  bars  of  iron,  spare  sleepers  or  rails.  The 
engine  encountei'ing  obstacles  of  this  kind  is  generally  thrown 
off,  dragging  with  it  one  or  more  of  the  carriages. 

Cattle  from  adjacent  fields,  through  deficient  fences,  have 
sometimes  got  upon  the  road,  and  the  engine  encountering 
them  has  run  over  them  and  been  thrown  oft'. 

A  wheel  or  axle  of  the  engine,  tender,  or  any  of  the  car- 
riages breaking,  is  sometimes  the.  cause  of  escape  from. the 
rails.  A  defect  in  the  rails  themselves  is  nofrfwj^equently  tho 
cause  of  this  class  of  accidents.  This  is  especially  liable  to  occur 
at  a  joint  chair,  that  is  to  say,  a  chair  where  the  ends  of  two 
successive  rails  are  united.  It  frequently  happens  that  one  of 
these  rails  is  considerably  above  or  below  the  other,  or  that  the 
rails  are  not  sufficiently  fastened  in  the  chair.  The  impact  of 
the  wheel  of  the  engine  on  such  a  defective  joint,  may  either 
immediately  break  the  rail,  or  so  weaken  it  that  one  of  the 
succeeding  carriage-wheels  will  break  it,  and  the  carriages  thus 
escape  from  the  rails. 

Another  not  unfrequent  cause  of  accidents  is  the  neglect  of 
the  points  and  switches,  a  name  given  to  a  part  of  the  mechanism 
by  which  trains  are  enabled  to  pass  from  one  line  of  rails  to 
another,  or  from  either  line  into  the  sidings. 

When  such  passage  is  intended,  a  certain  change  is  made  in 
the  position  of  the  points  and  switches  by  a  person  employed 
for  this  purpose  on  the  line,  and  after  the  train  passes  from  the 
line  the  switches  are  restored  to  their  usual  position.  If  any 
neglect  take  place  in  this  operation,  considerable  danger  will 
ensue  to  the  trains  which  next  pass. 

In  order  to  ascertain  the  proportion  in  which  these  causes  of 
accident  respectively  operate,  I  have  taken  indiscriminately, 


276  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XIV. 

from  the  returns  of  accidents,  100  cases  of  which  the  following 
is  the  analysis : 

Accidents  from  collision 56 

„          broken  wheel  or  axle 18 

,,         defective  rail 14 

„          by  switches 5 

„         impediments  lying  on  the  road  . .  .• 3 

„          off  rails  by  cattle  on  line 3 

„         bursting  boiler 1 

100 

Hence  it  appears  that  56  per  cent,  of  these  accidents  arise 
from  collision.  Next  to  these  comes  the  escape  from  the  rails 
by  the  breaking  of  a  wheel  or  axle,  or  by  defective  rails,  which 
together  make  up  32  per  cent.,  the  remaining  causes  operating 
in  small  proportions. 

Since  more  than  half  the  total  number  of  fatal  accidents 
which  occur  upon  railways  arise  from  collision,  it  is  important 
that  the  attention  of  railway  companies  be  more  specially  di- 
rected to  precautions  against  this  source  of  danger. 

Before  a  collision  takes  place,  the  engine-driver  and  others 
in  management  of  the  following  train,  have,  or  ought  to  have, 
the  means  of  observing  the  object  in  advance  of  them,  with 
which  the  collision  is  about  to  take  place.  If  it  be  possible  to 
bring  the  train  to  rest  before  it  can  pass  over  the  length  of 
road  between  the  point  where  the  obstacle  has  been  observed, 
and  the  point  where  such  obstacle  would  be  overtaken,  the 
collision  will  be  prevented.  This  possibility  will  depend,  upon 
the  proportion  which  the  number  of  brakes  and  brakesmen 
upon  the  train  bears  to  its  weight  and  speed.  It  is  clear, 
therefore,  that  in  all  cases  the  number  of  brakes  provided 
should  have  reference  to  the  magnitude  and  speed  of  the 
train. 

It  is  found  by  experience  that  the  distance  within  which  a 
train  of  given  weight  can  be  brought  to  rest  by  a  given  number 
of  brakes,  will  be  in  proportion  to  the  square  of  its  speed,  that 
is  to  say,  with  a  double  speed  it  will  require  four  times  the 
number  of  brakes;  with  a  treble  speed,  nine  times  the  number 
of  brakes  ;  and  so  on. 

In  the  case  of  an  accident  which  occurred  near  Wolverton, 
on  the  5th  of  June,  1847,  it  was  found  impossible  to  bring  a 
train  of  19  carriages  to  rest  within  a  distance  of  540  yards,  the 
speed  of  the  train  being  about  25  miles  ah  hour.  .In  this  case 


CHAP.  XIV.]  ACCIDENTS  ON  RAILWAYS.  277 

a  collision  took  place,  by  which  seven  persons  were  killed  :  on 
an  inquiry  it  was  found  that  this  train  was  provided  with  three 
brakes,  one  upon  the  tender  and  two  upon  the  carriages. 

Inquiries  suggested  by  this  and  other  similar  accidents,  in- 
duced the  Board  of  Trade  to  propose  a  rule  to  be  observed  by 
railway  companies,  that  a  brake  should  be  attached  to  every 
fourth  carriage. 

A  similar  rule  was  imposed  by  the  French  government,  in 
February,  1848,  on  the  trains  working  on  the  railways  of  that 
country. 

Since,  however,  the  brake  power  necessary  to  stop  a  train  is 
increased  in  so  large  a  ratio  with  the  speed,  a  still  greater 
number  of  brakes  would  be  necessary  with  a  fast  train,  such  as 
the  express  trains,  each  carriage  of  which  ought  to  be  pro- 
vided with  an  independent  brake  and  brakesman.  This  would 
certainly  cause  a  considerable  increase  in  the  working  expenses 
of  the  faster  class  of  trains,  but  the  public  safety  is  a  matter  of 
too  great  importance  to  be  postponed  to  considerations  of  this 
kind. 

In  attempting  to  avoid  one  source  of  danger  another  is  often 
produced.  When  an  obstacle  is  seen  on  the  rails  before  a 
train  moving  with  great  speed,  all  means  must  of  course  be 
used  to  bring  the  train  suddenly  to  rest.  But  if  this  be  not 
done  with  great  caution  and  skill,  danger  may  be  produced 
even  more  serious  than  that  from  which  it  is  attempted  to 
escape.  The  means  of  stopping  a  train  are,  the  brake  on  the 
the  tender,  the  brakes  on  the  vehicles  composing  it,  and,  in  fine, 
reversing  the  action  of  the  engine.  This  process  consists  in  so 
changing  the  motion  of  the  slides,  that  the  steam  shall  obstruct 
instead  of  accelerating  the  pistons..  In  this  way  the  whole 
force  of  the  steam  is  suddenly  made  to  resist  the  progressive 
motion  of  the  engine. 

This  is  a  dangerous  process.  The  progress  of  the  engine  is 
arrested  by  an  agent  which  does  not  act  on  the  vehicles  which 
follow  it.  They  are  consequently  urged  against  the  engine  and 
against  each  other  with  all  the  force  of  which  the  engine  is  de- 
prived by  the  back  action  of  the  steam.  The  effect  is  nearly 
the  same  as  if  an  engine  acting  behind  the  train  suddenly  push- 
ed the  train  against  the  engine  in  front.  The  effect  of  this  is 
an  obvious  tendency  to  drive  the  intermediate  carriages  off  the 
rails  by  doubling  up  the  train. 

Before  reversing  the  engine,  or  even  applying  the  brake  to 
the  tender,  it  is  therefore  always  advisable  to  warn  the  brakes- 


278  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XIV. 

men  to  apply  the  brakes  to  the  vehicles  composing  the  train. 
This  being  done,  and  the  brake  being  then  applied  to  the  tender, 
there  is  less  danger  in  reversing  the  steam  on  the  engine. 

But  it  unfortunately  happens  that  in  the  emergencies  in 
which  these  extreme  measures  are  demanded,  there  is  rarely 
time  to  observe  these  precautions.  The  prudence  of  providing 
a  signal  on  the  tender  which  shall  be  within  view  of  the  brakes- 
men, and  seats  for  the  latter  from  which  they  can  always  see 
such  signal,  is  so  obvious  that  it  need  not  here  be  enlarged  on. 

We  must  not  dismiss  this  subject  without  noticing  the  in- 
genious application  of  detonating  substances,  now  called  fog- 
signals. 

These  are  detonating  balls,  which  on  being  crushed  explode 
with  the  report  of  a  pistol.  When  a  train  is  stopped  on  the 
line  by  an  accident,  or  in  general  when  an  obstacle  is  found 
upon  the  railway  from  any  unexpected  cause,  and  which  can 
not  be  immediately  removed,  if  there  be  a  fog  at  the  time,  or 
any  other  cause  which  may  prevent  the  driver  of  a  following 
train  from  seeing  the  obstacle,  the  guard  or  policeman  runs 
back  along  the  line  and  places  these  balls  on  the  rails  at  certain 
distances,  so  that  when  a  train  approaches  it  causes  them  suc- 
cessively to  explode  in  rolling  over  them,  and  the  driver  thus 
receives  warning  to  stop. 

The  evil  consequences  resulting  from  collision  are  frequently 
aggravated  by  the  manner  in  which  the  carriages  or  wagons 
composing  the  trains  are  connected  with  or  adapted  to  each 
other.  The  mode  of  connecting  the  successive  carriages  form- 
ing a  train  is  as  follows.  From  the  end  of  the  frame  support- 
ing each  carriage  project  two  strong  iron  rods,  which  rest 
against  spiral  springs,  and  which  are  terminated  by  circular 
cushions  about  a  foot  in  diameter,  called  buffers.  When  two 
successive  coaches  are  brought  into  contact,  these  buffers  ought 
to  meet  each  other  so  that  their  centres  should  coincide.  This 
requires  that  the  buffers  of  all  the  carriages  should  have  the 
same  gauge,  that  is  to  say,  that  there  should  be  the  same  dis- 
tance between  their  centres ;  and,  secondly,  that  they  should 
be  at  the  same  height  above  the  rails.  If  this  be  not  the  case, 
a  collision  would  have  the  effect  of  causing  one  carriage  to  push 
the  other  either  aside  or  upward,  as  the  case  might  be ;  aside 
if  the  centre  of  the  buffer  deviated  horizontally,  and  upward  if 
it  deviated  vertically. 

In  any  case  there  would  be  a  tendency  of  the  coaches  to 
throw  each  other  off  the  rails. 


CHAP.  XIV.]          ACCIDENTS  ON  RAILWAYS.  279 

The  successive  coaches  forming  a  train  were  originally  held 
together  by  a  chain,  which  was  necessarily  always  a  little  slack, 
so  that  when  the  power  of  the  engine  was  driving  the  train, 
the  buffers  were  not  in  close  contact,  and  whenever  the  train 
stopped,  or  even  slackened  its  spee'd,  the  hinder  carriages  ran 
against  the  foremost  one  with  a  collision,  the  force  of  which 
was  proportional  to  the  difference  of  their  speeds. 

This  mode  of  connection  was  replaced  by  a  coupling  screw, 
by  means  of  which  the  carriages  are  drawn  together,  so  that 
the  buffers  are  pressed  into  close  contact,  and  their  springs  a 
little  compressed. 

In  this  manner  the  train  is  formed  into  one  complete  column, 
and  the  change  of  speed  to  which  it  is  subject  does  not  produce 
the  partial  collision  just  mentioned. 

One  of  the  means,  therefore,  of  diminishing  the  chances  of 
injuries  resulting  from  collision  is  to  provide  against  the  occur- 
rence of  eccentric  buffers,  and  to  insure  the  proper  coupling 
of  the  trains. 

Although,  in  most  cases  of  derailment,*  it  is  the  engine  which 
escapes  from  the  rails,  yet  it  occasionally  happens  that,  while 
the  engine  maintains  its  position,  one  or  more  of  the  carriages 
forming  the  train  escape. 

This  happens  frequently  when  an  axle  or  wheel  breaks,  but 
it  sometimes  happens  that  a  defect  of  the  rail  throws  a  car- 
riage off  after  the  engine  and  preceding  carriages  have  passed 
over  it. 

On  the  16th  September,  1847,  on  the  Manchester  and  Liver- 
pool Railway,  the  last  carriage  of  the  express  train,  having  two 
passengers  in  it,  was  derailed,  the  other  carriages  being  un- 
disturbed, and  was  dragged  a  considerable  distance  before  the 
engine-driver  was  made  aware  of  the  accident.  The  two  pas- 
sengers it  contained  were  killed. 

This  accident  was  ascribed  to  a  defect  in  the  rails.  It  was 
supposed  that  the  weight  of  the  engine  being  too  great  for  the 
strength  of  the  road,  it  had  deranged  the  rails  in  passing  over 
them,  and  that  the  succeeding  carriages  increasing  the  injury, 
the  displacement  only  became  great  enough  to  derail  the  wheels 
on  the  arrival  of  the  last  coach  at  the  point. 

*  I  have  adopted  this  word  from  the  French  :  it  expresses  an  effect 
which  is  so  often  necessary  to  mention,  but  for  which  we  have  not  yet 
had  any  term  in  our  railway  nomenclature.  By  deraillement  is  meant  the 
escape  oi'  the  wheels  of  the  engine  or  carriage  from  the  rails  ;  and  the 
verb  to  derail  or  to  be  derailed  may  be  used  in  a  corresponding  sense 


280  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XIV. 

This  and  some  other  accidents  have  suggested  to  the  railway 
authorities  the  expediency  of  adopting  some  method  by  which 
a  communication  can  be  made  between  the  several  carriages 
forming  the  train  and  the  engine-driver.  If,  in  the  above  in- 
stance, the  engine-driver  had  been  made  aware  of  the  accident 
at  the  moment  of  the  derailment,  it  is  probable  that  such  fatal 
results  might  not  have  occurred. 

A  case  will  be  mentioned  hereafter,  in  which  a  private  car- 
riage caught  fire  by  a  cinder  projected  from  the  funnel  of  the 
engine  falling  on  its  roof.  The  carriage  continued  to  burn  until 
the  arrival  of  the  train  at  the  next  station,  the  engine-driver  and 
conductor  being  ignorant  of  the  accident. 

Previously  to  this,  the  necessity  of  some  means  of  watching 
a  train,  and  of  notifying  promptly  to  the  engine-driver  the 
occurrence  of  any  accident,  had  attracted  the  attention  of  the 
government  commissioners,  and  they  consulted  some  of  the 
principal  railway  companies  on  the  most  desirable  means  of 
remedying  the  evil. 

The  Great  Western  Company  proposed  to  fix  at  the  back  of 
the  tender  a  seat  for  a  conductor,  in  a  sufficiently  high  position 
to  see  along  the  roofs  of  the  carriages,  so  as  to  have  a  perfect 
view  of  the  entire  side  length  of  the  train,  and  a  means  of  pass- 
ing from  side  to  side  of  the  tender,  so  as  to  get  a  view  of  each 
side  of  the  train.  Such  a  conductor,  from  his  proximity  to  the 
engine,  could  immediately  communicate  with  the  driver,  and 
each  guard  upon  the  coaches  of  the  train  could  communicate 
with  such  conductor  by  signals. 

The  Northwestern  Company  proposed  that  the  under  guard 
should  always  stand  in  his  van  next  to  the  engine,  with  his 
face  to  the  train,  so  as  to  observe  any  signal  of  distress,  irregular- 
ity, or  derangement  among  the  carriages  which  the  chief  guard, 
stationed  at  the  rear  of  the  train,  might  make.  A  communica- 
tion between  the  under  guard  and  the  engineman  was  only 
necessary  to  complete  this  arrangement,  and  the  company 
accordingly  ordered  that  means  should  be  provided  by  which 
the  under  guard  should  be  enabled  at  pleasure  to  open  the 
whistle  of  the  engine. 

The  late  Colonel  Brandreth  had  interviews  with  some  of  the 
most  eminent  railway  engineers,  with  a  view  to  obtain  some 
additional  protection  for  the  traveling  public,  by  contriving  a 
method,  not  only  for  securing  the  constant  watching  of  the 
trains  while  on  their  journey,  but  also  to  provide  the  passen- 
gers with  means,  in  case  of  accident  or  sudden  illness,  of  com- 


CHAP.  XIV.]  ACCIDENTS  ON  RAILWAYS.  281 

municating  with  a  guard,  and  of  enabling  the  guard  to  commu- 
nicate with  the  engineman,  for  the  purpose,  when  necessary, 
of  stopping  the  train. 

There  could  be  no  difficulty  in  providing  means  by  which  any 
passenger  could  at  his  pleasure  sound  the  whistle  of  the  engine, 
so  as  to  give  the  engine-driver  notice  to  stop ;  but  the  govern- 
ment commissioners  considered  that  it  would  be  objectionable 
to  give  a  passenger  a  power  to  stop  the  train  at  will,  though  it 
was  admitted  that  it  would  be  extremely  desirable  to  establish 
a  practicable  and  sure  communication  between  the  passengers  in 
each  coach  with  a  guard,  and  to  provide  the  latter  with  means 
of  communicating  with  the  engine-driver.  This  subject  is  still 
under  consideration  of  the  commissioners  and  the  companies. 

While  noticing  the  subject  of  railway  accidents  arising  from 
causes  beyond  the  control  of  the  passengers,  or  those  who  have 
the  management  of  the  trains,  it  would  be  an  injustice  to  a  most 
meritorious  and  generally  intelligent  class  of  persons  not  to  ac- 
knowledge the  zeal,  courage,  skill,  and  good  conduct  of  the  en- 
gine-drivers, conductors,  and  stokers,  as  a  body.  All  who  have 
had  opportunities  of  experience  in  railway  transport  will  feel  the 
justice  of  such  a  tribute  in  the  exact  proportion  of  the  extent  of 
their  experience.  Innumerable  instances  might  be  offered  of 
admirable  judgment  and  presence  of  mind  exhibited  by  this  class 
of  men  in  the  emergencies  which  arise  in  railway  traveling. 

An  incident  which  occurred  on  the  Chester  and  Holyhead 
Railway  may  be  mentioned  as  one  among  numbers  in  attestation 
of  this,  and  in  which,  although  the  promptness  and  presence  of 
mind  of  the  engineer  were  not  successful  in  effecting  the  safety 
of  the  passengers,  they  were  not  the  less  admirable. 

On  the  24th  of  May,  1847,  a  fatal  accident  occurred  to  a  train 
in  crossing  the  bridge  over  the  river  Dee.  The  train  consisted 
of  the  engine  and  tender,  weighing  30  tons,  followed  by  three 
.  passenger  carriages,  a  luggage  van,  and  another  passenger  car- 
riage, containing  in  all  25  passengers,  the  gross  weight  of  the 
train  being  60  tons. 

The  train  proceeded  safely  over  the  first  and  second  arches, 
and  the  engine  reached  the  middle  of  the  third  arch  to  a  point 
about  50  feet  from  the  abutments  of  the  bridge.  At  that  point 
the  engine-driver  felt  the  railway  sinking  under  him.  With 
admirable  promptitude  he  instantly  opened  the  steam  valve  to 
the  fullest  extent  of  its  power,  giving  to  the  train  a  sudden  pull, 
so  as  to  endeavor  to  clear  the  bridge  before  the  catastrophe,  of 
the  imminence  of  which  he  was  instantly  conscious,  should  occur. 

His  purpose  was  but  partinlly  successful.    The  engine  cleared 


282 


RAILWAY  ECONOMY. 


[CHAP.  XIV. 


the  bridge  as  the  railway  sunk  under  it,  and  dragged  the  tender 
with  it.  The  fireman,  who  waa  upon  the  tender,  was  thrown 
off  upon  the  side  of  the  railway  beyond  the  end  of  the  bridge, 
and  killed.  The  passenger  coaches  had  not  cleared  the  bridge 
when  it  sunk  under  them,  and  their  connection  with  the  tender 
was  broken.  The  carriages  which  had  the  passengers  were 
precipitated  into  the  river  from  a  height  of  36  feet  above  the 
surface  of  the  water,  the  depth  of  which  was  10  feet. 

It  appeared  afterward  that  the  tender  in  following  the  engine 
had  been  derailed,  and  was  dragged  along,  rubbing  hard  against 
the  parapet  wall  at  the  end  of  the  bridge.  It  was  left  standing 
apart  at  50  feet  from  the  water's  edge  and  3  feet  off  the  rails, 
the  engine  having  broken  away  from  it,  and  proceeded  with  the 
driver,  the  only  individual  who  escaped,  to  the  adjacent  station. 

Having  investigated  the  circumstances  which  produce  that  class 
of  accidents  against  which  the  sufferer  can  not  effectually  protect 
himself  by  measures  of  precaution,  it  remains  now  to  notice  those 
which  arise  from  imprudence,  or  from  the  want  of  that  vigilance 
and  care  on  the  part  of  the  traveler,  which  the  very  nature  of 
railway  transport  renders  necessary. 

The  railway  commissioners  publish  periodically  reports  of  all 
accidents  attended  with  personal  injury  which  take  place  on 
railways.  The  most  certain'  method  of  ascertaining  the  manner 
in  which  imprudence  or  negligence  operates  in  the  production 
of  these  disasters,  will  be  to  take  from  the  reports  those  accidents 
which  have  occurred  to  passengers,  and  to  classify  them  accord- 
ing to  their  causes.  I  have  accordingly  taken  indiscriminately 
a  hundred  such  occurrences,  and  have  classified  them  in  the 
following  table : 


ANALYSIS  of  100  Accidents  produced  by  Imprudence  of  Passengers. 

Causes. 

Results. 

Killed. 

Injured. 

Total. 

Sitting  or  standing  in  improper  place,  attitude, 
or  position  

17 
17 
10 

8 
11 
3 

1 

11 
7 
6 

1 
3 
0 

23 
24 
16 

13 
2 
6 

1 

100 

Getting  otft  of  carriage  while  train  in  motion 
Getting  into  carriage  while  train  in  motion.. 
Jumping  out  to  recover  hat  bk>wn   off,   or 

Handing  an  article  into  a  train  in  motion  

67 

33 

CHAP.  XIV.]  ACCIDENTS  ON  RAILWAYS.  283 

SECT.  III. — Precautions  against  Accidents. 

From  what  has  been  stated  and  explained  it  will  be  evident 
that  of  all  the  means  of  locomotion  which  human  invention  has 
as  yet  devised,  railway  traveling  is  the  safest  in  an  almost  infinite 
degree.  Indeed,  the  risk  to  life  and  limb,  when  reduced  to  a 
numerical  statement,  seems  to  be  evanescent.  Nevertheless 
the  apprehension  of  danger  in  this  mode  of  traveling  entertained 
by  timid  persons,  and  even  by  some  who  scarcely  merit  that 
appellation,  is  not  inconsiderable. 

This  may  arise  partly  from  the  circumstance  of  the  public  not 
being  generally  aware  of  the  smallness  of  the  amount  of  the 
danger  which  has  been  here  described,  but  in  a  greater  degree 
from  the  terrific  results  of  some  of  the  rare  accidents  which 
have  occurred. 

In  the  modes  of  traveling  used  before  the  prevalence  of  rail- 
ways, accidents  to  life  and  limb  were  frequent,  but  in  general 
they  were  individually  so  unimportant  as  not  to  attract-  notice, 
or  to  find  a  place  in  the  public  journals.  In  the  case  of  railways, 
however,  where  large  numbers  are  carried  in  the  same  train, 
and  simultaneously  exposed  to  danger,  accidents,  though  more 
rare,  are  sometimes  attended  with  appalling  results.  Much 
notice  is  therefore  drawn  to  them.  They  are  commented  on 
in  the  journals,  and  public  alarm  is  excited. 

Notwithstanding  the  smallness  of  the  amount  of  risk,  yet,  as 
in  many  cases  the  danger  of  accident  beyond  the  control  of  the 
passenger  may  be  diminished  by  the  adoption  of  proper  precau- 
tions, and  iri  all'cases  the  causes  of  danger  arising  from  his  own 
ignorance  or  neglect  may  be  wholly  removed,  it  may  be  beneficial 
to  give  in  a  succinct  form  short  rules,  by  the  observance  of  which 
the  traveler  will  render  still  less  the  amount  of  that  risk  already 
so  small. 

With  this  view  I  have  put  together  th&  following  series  of 
plain,  intelligible  rules,  founded  partly  upon  rather  a  large  per- 
sonal experience  in  railway  traveling  in  every  quarter  of  the 
globe  where  this  species  of  locomotion  has  been  adopted ;  and 
in  order  to  render  these  rules  the  less  arbitrary,  and  illustrate 
the  utility  of  their  observance,  I  have  annexed  to  each  of  them 
examples  of  the  injurious  consequences  resulting  from  their 
neglect,  such  examples  being  accompanied  by  the  date,  time, 
and  place  of  their  occurrence. 


PLAIN  RULES 

FOR 

RAILWAY    TRAVELERS 


RULE  I. 

NEVER  ATTEMPT    TO   GET    OUT    OF  A   RAILWAY   CARRIAGE    WHILE 
IT    IS    MOVING,   NO    MATTER    HOW    SLOWLY. 

Illustration. 

IT  is  a  peculiarity  of  railway  locomotion  that  the  speed,  when 
not  very  rapid,  always  appears  to  the  unpracticed  passenger 
much  less  than  it  is.  A  railway  train  moving  at  the  rate  of  a 
fast  stage-coach  seems  to  go  scarcely  as  fast  as  a  person  might 
walk.  To  this  circumstance  (which  is  explained  by  the  extreme 
smoothness  of  the  motion)  is  to  be  ascribed  the  great  frequency 
of  accidents  arising  from  passengers  attempting  to  descend 
from  trains  while  still  in  motion.  This  is  the  most  common 
cause  of  that  class  of  accidents  on  railways,  which  are  owing  to 
want  of  due  caution  on  the  part  of  the  passenger.  I  have  wit- 
nessed many  accidents  of  this  class,  and  the  reports  of  the 
Railway  Board  abound  with  them. 

Examples. 

Dublin  and  Drogheda July  4, 1844.  Jumping  out  before  the  train  stopped, 

fell  with  his  hand  on  the  rail,  over 
which  the  carriage-wheels  passed. 

Grand  Junction July  25, 1844.  Jumping  out  while  in  motion,  broke 

his  leg. 

Liverpool  and  Manchester August  26, 1844.  Jumping  off  before  train  had  stopped. 

Manchester  and  Birmingham.  Sept.  9,  1844.  Ditto. 

Manchester  and  Leeds Oct.  10,  1844.  Ditto. 

Glasgow,  Garnkirfc,  and  Coat- 
Bridge Oct.  30,  1844.  Ditto,  injured. 

North  Union Aug.  23,  1846.  Ditto,  broke  his  leg. 

Grand  Junction August  7,  1846.  Ditto,  killed. 

Great  Western Aug.  17,  1846.  Ditto,  ditto. 

Midland Oct.  31,  1846.  Ditto,  ditto. 

Sheffield,  Ashton,  and  Man- 
chester    Jan.  21, 1846.  Ditto,  ditto. 


CHAP.  XIV.]  ACCIDENTS  ON  RAILWAYS. 


235 


Dundee  and  Arbroath 

Edinburgh  and  Glasgow 

Northwestern 

London  and  Southwestern  . . . 

East  Lancaster.   

Ditto 

Northwestern 

Newcastle  and  Carlisle 

Northwestern 

Great  North  of  England 

Manchester  and  Birmingham 

Midland 

Ditto 

Stockton  and  Darlington 

Northwestern 

Dublin  and  Kingstown 


July  22,  1846. 
Feb.  16,  1846. 
June,  1847. 
Jan.  9,  1847. 
April  14,  1847. 
May  29,  1847. 
Feb.  19,  1848. 
April  5,  1847. 
Feb.  1, 1847. 
Feb.  17,  1845. 
Feb.  18,  1845. 
Oct.  27,  1845. 
Oct.  31,  1845. 
Feb.  18,  1845. 
Feb.  1, 1847. 
Nov.  6,  1847. 


Ditto,  severely  injured. 

Ditto,  killed. 

Ditto,  arm  crushed  by  wheels. 

Ditto,  killed. 

Ditto,  both  legs  broken. 

Ditto,  killed. 

Ditto,  ditto. 

Ditto,  leg  crushed. 

Ditto,  killed. 

Ditto,  ditto. 

Ditto,  injured. 

Ditto,  killed. 

Ditto,  ditto. 

Ditto,  ditto. 

Ditto,  ditto. 

Ditto,  ditto 


RULE  II. 

NEVER  ATTEMPT    TO   GET    INTO   A   RAILWAY    CARRIAGE  WHEN   IT 
IS  IN  MOTION,   NO  MATTER  HOW  SLOW  THE  MOTION  MAY  SEEM 


Examples. 

London  and  Blackwall July  13, 1846.      Attempting  to  get  upon  a  train  after 

it  had  started.    Killed. 
April  17, 1846.     Ditto,  ditto. 


London  and  Birmingham 

Newcastle  and  Berwick 
eluding  Newcastle 
North  Shields) 

London  and  Brighton 

Newcastle  and  Carlisle  . . 

London  and  Bfackwall. . . 

Manchester  and  Leeds. . . 

Dublin  and  Kingstown  . . . 

London  and  Birmingham 

Southwestern 

Bolton  and  Preston 

Midland 

North  Union 

Dublin  and  Kingstown  . . . 

Edinburgh  and  Glasgow. . 

London  and  Brighton  .... 

Midland 

Manchester  and  Leeds . . . 

Lancashire  and  Yorkshire 


Feb.  14,  1847. 
Sept.  17,  1848. 
June  23,  1846. 
July  18,  1846. 
Feb.  8,  1847. 
March  4,  1846. 
August  3,  1844. 
Nov.  3,  1848. 
April  23,  1844. 
Feb.  5,  1848. 
Aug.  23,  1846. 
Dec.  26,  1845. 
May  16,  1845. 
July  15,  1845. 
July  15,  1845. 
Feb.  8,  1847. 
Nov.  20,  1847. 


Ditto,  ditto. 
Ditto,  arm  broken. 
Ditto,  foot  crushed. 
Ditto,  killed. 
Ditto,  broke  his  leg. 
Ditto,  leg  fractured. 
Ditto,  killed. 
Ditto,  ditto. 
Ditto,  broke  his  leg. 
Ditto,  killed. 
Ditto,  ditto. 
Ditto,  injured. 
Ditto,  ditto. 
Ditto,  killed. 
Ditto,  ditto. 
Ditto,  leg  fractured. 
Ditto,  killed. 


RULE  III. 

NEVER   SIT    IN    ANY    UNUSUAL    PLACE    OR    POSTURE. 

Illustration. 

On  some  lines  of  railway  seats  are  provided  on  the  roofs  of 
the  carriages.  These  are  to  be  avoided.  Those  who  occupy 
them  sometimes  inadvertently  stand  up,  and  when  the  train 
passes  under  a  bridge  they  are  struck  by  the  arch.  Guards 
and  brakesmen,  whose  duty  brings  them  to  these  positions,  and 
who  are  disciplined  to  exercise  caution,  are  nevertheless  fre- 
quent sufferers  from  this. 


RAILWAY  ECONOMY. 


[CHAT.  XiV. 


Newcastle  and  Carlisle  

Manchester  and  Sheffield  
North  Union  
Southeastern  

Examples. 

Sept  2,  1846.       S 

March  5,  1847.     S 
Jan.    6,  1847.      D 
Jan.  30,  1846.      D 

Bristol  and  Birmingham  
Glasgow  and  Ayr  
Manchester  and  Birmingham. 

July  11,  1846.      D 
May  16,  1844.      D 
May  31,  1844.      D 

Sitting  on  top,  stood  up  as  the  train 
was  approaching  an  archway,  was 
struck  by  it.  Killed. 

Struck  by  a  bridge.    Killed. 

Ditto,  ditto. 

Ditto,  ditto. 

Ditto,  ditto. 

Ditto,  ditto. 

Ditto,  injured. 

Illustration. 

Passengers  should  beware  of  leaning  out  of  the  carriage  win- 
dow, or  of  putting  out  their  arm,  or  if  a  second-class  carriage, 
as  sometimes  happens,  has  no  door,  they  should  take  care  not 
to  put  out  their  leg. 

Examples. 


Preston  and  Wyre  
Manchester,  Bolton,  and  Bury 

Grand  Junction  
Hull  andSelby  
Edinburgh  and  Glasgow  
Manchester  and  Leeds  

Bodmin  and  Wadebridge  
Midland 

April  18,  1844. 
July  26,  1846. 

July  20,  1846. 
April  17,  1846. 
June  9,  1847. 
Sept.  1,  1846. 

Aug.  3,  1844. 
July  15,  1846." 

Leaning  out  of  carriage,  struck  by 
signal  board.    Wounded. 
Leaning  out  of  second-class  carriage, 
struck  by  iron  column  supporting  a 
bridge.    Killed. 
Sitting  improperly  upon  the  side  rail, 
fell  off.    Killed. 
Fell  off,  while  reaching  over  to  get 
his  coat.    Arm  broken. 
Climbing  from  one  compartment  of  a 
carriage  to  another,  fell.    Killed. 
Attempting  to  get  over  the  side  of  the 
carriage,  instead  of  by  the  doorway. 
Leg  broken. 
Jumping  from  one  carriage  to  an- 
other, fell  between.    Killed. 

Liverpool  and  Manchester  .  .  . 
Grand  Junction  
Preston  and  Wyre  
York  and  North  Midland  
Dublin  and  Kingstown  
Eastern  Counties 

June  15,  1845. 
August  8,  1845. 
Aug.  8,  1845. 
Nov.  2,  1845. 
Nov.  25,  1845. 
March  1,  1845. 

ing  on  the  seat,  thrown  off.    Both 
killed. 
Fell,  attempting  to  pass  from  one  car- 
riage to  another.    Injured. 
Fell  off  the  buffer  of  a  wagon.    In- 
jured. 
Improperly  sitting  on  the  side  of  a 
carriage,  fell  off.    Killed. 
Fell  from  the  foot-board  of  a  carriage 
in  motion.    Killed. 
Over-reaching   herself,   fell    from    a 
train  in  motion.    Injured. 
Struck  head    against    a  signal   post 

Stockton  and  Darlington  

Dundee  and  Perth  
Northwestern  

Newcastle  and  Carlisle  
Lancashire  and  Yorkshire  — 
South  Staffordshire  
York  and  North  Midland  .... 

April  14,  1845. 

July  24,  1847. 
Dec.  26,  1847. 

Aug.  22,  1847. 
June  19,  1848. 
July  8,  1848. 
Aug.  28,  1848. 

while  leaning  over.    Killed. 
Leaning  over,  struck  a  wagon.    In- 
jured. 
Struck  by  a  bridge,  on  the  roof.  Killed. 
Upon  step  of  tender,  after  the  train 
got  into  motion,  jumping  off.  Killed. 
Got  upon  step  of  carriage,  before  traiu 
stopped,  fell.    Injured. 
Riding  on  top,  contrary  to  orders,  came 
in  contact  with  a  bridge.    Killed. 
Sitting  on  the  bar  of  window,  fell  out, 
fracturing  leg  and  head. 
Seated  on  the  edge  of  an  open  car- 
riage, lost  his  balance,  and  fell  be- 
tween the  carriages.  Arm  broken 

'.   •  ••"  *.»" 

CHAP.  XIV.  ACCIDENTS  ON  RAILWAYS.  287 

RULE  IV. 

IT  IS  AN  EXCELLENT  GENERAL  MAXIM  IN  RAILWAY  TRAVELING 
TO  REMAIN  IN  TOUR  PLACE  WITHOUT  GOING  OUT  AT  ALL 
UNTIL  YOU  ARRIVE  AT  YOUR  DESTINATION.  WHEN  THIS  CAN 
NOT  BE  DONE,  GO  OUT  AS  SELDOM  AS  POSSIBLE. 

RULE    V. 
NEVER  GET  OUT  AT   THE  WRONG  SIDE  OF  A  RAILWAY  CARRIAGE. 

Illustration, 

All  who  are  accustomed  to  railway  traveling  know  that  the 
English  railways  in  general  consist  of  two  lines  of  rails,  one 
commonly  called  the  up  line,  and  the  other  the  down  line.  The 
rule  of  the  road  is  the  same  as  on  common  roads.  The  trains 
always  keep  the  line  of  rails  on  the  left  of  the  engine-driver  as 
he  looks  forward.  The  consequence  of  this  is,  that  trains  mov- 
ing in  opposite  directions  are  never  on  the  same  line,  and  be- 
tween these  there  can  never  be  a  collision. 

The  doors  of  the  carriages  which  are  on  your  right  as  you 
look  toward  the  engine  open  upon  the  space  in  the  middle  of 
the  railway  between  the  two  lines  of  rails.  The  passenger 
should  never  attempt  to  leave  the  carriage  by  these  doors ;  if 
he  do,  he  is  liable  to  be  struck  down  or  run  over  by  trains  pass- 
ing on  the  adjacent  line  of  rails.  If  he  leave  the  carriage  by 
the  left-hand  door,  he  descends  on  the  side  of  the  railway  out 
of  danger. 

On  quitting  a  train  under  such  circumstances,  immediately 
retire  to  the  distance  of  several  feet  from  the  edge  of  the  line, 
so  as  to  avoid  being  struck  by  the  steps  or  other  projecting  parts 
of  carriages  passing. 

Example. 

Northwestern Jan.  12, 1847.  Got  out  of  the  train  on  the  wrong 

side,  was  run  over  by  another  train 
which  was  passing  at  the  time. 
Killed. 

Southeastern  June  6,  1848.       Ditto,  leg  broken. 

Manchester  and  Leeds Jan.  23,  3845.      Ditto,  injured. 

Southeastern June  6,  1848.       Ditto,  leg  broken. 

Ditto Dec.  25,  1848.      Ditto,  killed. 

RULE  VI. 

NEVER  PASS  FROM  ONE  SIDE  OF  THE  RAILWAY  TO  THE  OTHER, 
EXCEPT  WHEN  IT  IS  INDISPENSABLY  NECESSARY  TO  DO  SO, 
AND  THEN  NOT  WITHOUT  THE  UTMOST  PRECAUTION. 


288  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XIV. 

Illustration. 

Care  should  be  taken  before  crossing  the  line  to  look  both 
ways,  to  see  that  no  train  is  approaching.  The  risk  is  not 
merely  that  of  a  train  coming  upon  you  before  you  can  pass  to 
the  other  side.  You  slip  or  trip,  or  otherwise  accidentally  fall, 
and  a  train  may  be  upon  you  before  you  can  raise  yourself  and 
get  out  of  its  way. 

Precaution  in  this  case  is  especially  necessary  at  a  point  where 
the  line  is  curved,  and  where  you  can  not  command  a  view  to 
any  considerable  distance.  It  is  true  that  the  noise  of  the  train 
generally  gives  notice  of  its  approach,  but  this  can  not  always  bo 
depended  on,  as  the  wind  sometimes  renders  it  inaudible. 

In  crossing  a  railway  at  a  place  where  there  are  sidings  and 
numerous  points  (which  is  always  the  case  at  and  near  stations), 
the  feet  are  liable  to  be  caught  between  the  rails  and  points, 
and  in  such  cases  it  has  happened  very  frequently  that  the  per- 
son thus  impeded  is  run  over  by  a  train  before.he  is  able  to  dis- 
engage himself. 

Passengers  waiting  at  stations  for  the  arrival  of  a  train,  or 
having  descended  from  a  train  which  has  stopped  and  waiting 
to  remount,  stand  in  need  of  the  greatest  caution.  The  refresh- 
ment-room is  sometimes  on  the  side  of  the  road  opposite  to  that 
on  which  the  train  stops,  in  which  case  it  can  only  be  arrived 
at  by  crossing  the  line. 

Examples. 

Northwestern Jan.  6,  1848.  Standing  on  the  line  at  a  station,  was 

run  over,  and  killed. 

Manchester  and  Leeds Feb.  27, 1847.  Attempted  to  cross  in  front  of  an 

approaching  engine,  and  was  run 
over;  he  had  been  previously  warn- 
ed not  to  make  the  attempt.  Killed. 

Midland Jan.  26,  1847.  While  incautiously  crossing  the  line, 

knocked  down  by  an  engine.  Leg 
broken. 

Ulster March  31,  1847.  Standing  on  the  line  at  a  station,  run 

over  by  a  passing  train.  One  leg 
had  to  be  amputated,  and  other- 
wise severely  injured. 

London  and  Brighton June  29, 1846.  Waiting  for  a  train,  was  crossing  the 

railway,  and  fell,  it  is  supposed 
with  fright,  on  seeing  the  train 
roa  chin  jr.  The  station  cl  erk,  on 


perceiving  her  situation,  hurried  to 
her  i 


stance,  and  while  endeav 
oring  to  remove  her,  the  train  went 
over  and  killed  both. 

Manchester  and  Birmingham.  Oct.  31,  1846.  Waiting  at  station,  was  run  over 

while  crossing  the  rails.  Killed. 

Newcastle  and  Darlington. . . .  June  15,  1846.  Waiting  at  a  station  for  a  train,  fell 

asleep  on  the  edge  of  the  platform, 
and  was  struck  by  a  passing  goods 
train.  Killed. 


CHAP.  XIV.]  ACCIDENTS  ON  RAILWAYS.  289 

York  and  Newcastle March  26, 1847.  Foot  caught  in  the  points,  which 

held  him  fast  until  the  engine 
went  over  him.  Killed. 

Eastern  Counties May  8,  1846.  Attempting  to  cross  the  line,  in  order 

to  prevent  one  of  her  children  get- 
ting upon  it  from  the  opposite  side 
was  run  over  and  killed. 

Illustration. 

It  frequently  happens  that  while  the  attention  of  a  person 
crossing  a  line  is  directed  to  a  train  approaching  from  one 
direction,  which  he  thinks  there  is  time  to  avoid,  he  is  run  over 
by  a  train,  from  which  his  attention  has  been  withdrawn,  coming 
from  the  opposite  direction. 

Examples. 

Caledonian    (Glasgow,   Garn-  March  15,  1847.  Run  over  by  a  train  while  his  atten- 
kirk,  and  Coatbridge  line!  tion  was  directed  to  another  train 

coming  from  the  opposite  direction, 
KilledT 
North  Union  .  i Oct.  2,  1846.         Ditto,  ditto. 


Leeds  and  Thirsk  ..  . 
Manchester  and  Leeds 
East  Lancaster 


Midland 


. .  Feb.  14,  1848-  Ditto,  ditto. 

. .  Oct.  29,  1846.  Two,  ditto,  ditto. 

. .  Oct.  19,  1846  Ditto,  dilto. 

. .  Dec  30,  1847  Having  left  the  train,  attempted   to 


cross  the  line,  and  was  crushed  by 
the  step  of  the  break-van  against 
the  platform.  Killed. 

Northwestern Sept.  11, 1845.     Attempting  to  cross  the  line  in  front 

of  an  approaching  train,  although 
warned  not  to  do  so,  was  killed. 

RULE  VII. 

EXPRESS  TRAINS  ARE  ATTENDED  WITH  MORE  DANGER  THAN 
ORDINARY  TRAINS.  THOSE  WHO  DESIRE  THE  GREATEST 
DEGREE  OF  SECURITY  SHOULD  USE  THEM  ONLY  WHEN 
GREAT  SPEED  IS  REQUIRED. 

Illustration.   , 

The  principal  source  of  danger  from  express  trains  arises  not 
so  much  from  their  extreme  speed  as  from  their  rate  of  progress 
being  different  from  that  of  the  general  traffic  of  the  line.  If  all 
trains,  without  exception,  moved  with  exactly  the  same  speed,  no 
collision  by  one  overtaking  another  could  occur.  The  more  they 
depart  from  this  uniformity  the  more  likely  are  collisions.  Now 
the  speed  of  express  trains  is  both  exceptional  and  extreme. 
Inasmuch  as  it  is  exceptional,  they  are  likely  to  overtake  the 
slower  and  regular  trains,  if  these  be  retarded  even  in  the  least 
degree  by  any  accidental  cause ;  and  inasmuch  as  it  is  extreme, 
they  are  more  difficult  to  be  stopped  in  time  to  prevent  a  collision 
in  such  a  contingency.  If  a  collision  occur,  the  effects  are  dis- 
astrous, in  the  direct  ratio  of  the  relative  speed  of  the  trains, 
one  of  which  overtakes  the  other.  The  momentum  of  the  shock, 
N 


290 


RAILWAY  ECONOMY. 


[CHAP.  XIV. 


other  things  being  the  same,  will  be  proportional  to  the  excess 
of  the  speed  of  the  faster  over  that  of  the  slower  train. 

The  probability  of  a  collision  will  also  be  increased  in  the 
same  ratio. 

To  work  express  trains  with  safety,  an  additional  line  of  rails 
should  be  laid  down  and  appropriated  to  them. 

Their  number  per  day  being  necessarily  small,  and  the  dura- 
tion of  their  trips  short,  the  same  line  of  rails  might,  without  in- 
convenience or  danger,  serve  for  the  traffic  in  both  directions  as 
on  single  lines  of  railway. 

Examples. 

Northwestern Jan.  23, 1847.  Passenger  had  his  leg  broken.  Ex- 
press train  ran  into  a  siding,  and 
came  in  contact  with  a  wagon. 

Bristol  and  Birmingham May  23,  1848.  Engine-driver,  stoker,  and  guard  kill- 
ed, and  two  passengers  slightly  in- 
jured, in  consequence  of  the  train 
getting  off  the  line. 

Great  Western . .  May  10, 1848.  Six  passengers  killed,  and  thirteen 

injured,  in  consequence  of  a  train 
coming  in  collision  with  'a  horse- 
box at  the  Shrivenham  station. 

Lancaster  and  Preston Aug.  21,  1848.  One  passenger  killed,  and  two  serious- 
ly injured,  in  consequence  of  a  col- 
lision at  the  Bay  Horse  station  be- 
tween a  Lancaster  and  Carlisle 
Company's  express  train,  and  a 
local  train  belonging  to  Lancaster 
and  Preston  Company. 

London  and  Brighton Sept,  22,  1848.  Guard  injured .  Several  carriages  of 

an  express  train  thrown  off  tlie 
rails,  in  consequence  of  the  tire  of 
one  of  the  engine-wheels  breaking. 

Northwestern Sept.  2,  1848.  Express  train  ran  off  the  rails  near 

the  Newton  Road  station,  causing 
severe  injury  to  two  passengers, 
Mr.  Shuard  and  Colonel  Baird, 
both  of  whom  died  afterward. 

Ditto Oct.  3J,  1848.  The  engine  and  five  carriages  of  the 

express  train  to  Edinburgh  ran  off 
the  rails  near  Weedon,  causing  in- 
jury to  one  passenger  and  to  the 
driver. 

Southwestern . .  Nov.  17, 1848.  Express  train  ran  into  a  ballast-en- 
gine on  tlie  Richmond  line,  causing 
death  to  one  servant  of  the  com- 
pany and  injury  to  four  others,  all 
of  whom  were  riding  on  the  engine ; 
nlso  injury  to  eight  passengers  in 
the  express  train. 

RULE  VIII. 

SPECIAL  TRAILS,  EXCURSION  TRAINS,  AND  ALL  OTHER  EXCEP- 
TIONAL TRAINS  ON  RAILWAYS  ARE  TO  BE  AVOIDED,  BEING 
MORE  UNSAFE  THAN  THE  ORDINARY  AND  REGULAR  TRAINS. 

Illustration. 
There  is  always  more  or  less  danger  of  collision  when  any 


CHAP.  XIV.]  ACCIDENTS  ON  RAILWAYS.  291 

object  on  a  railway  is  out  of  its  customary  place.  The  engine- 
drivers  of  the  regular  trains  are  always  informed  of  the  course 
of  other  regular  trains,  and  except  in  cases  of  accidental  stop- 
page or  delay,  they  know  where  they  are  liable  to  be  encoun- 
tered. Special  trains  are  supplied  on  sudden  and  unforeseen 
occasions,  and  although  their  drivers  are  informed  of  the  move- 
ment of  the  regular  trains,  and  may  therefoi-e  provide  against 
collision,  this  information  is  not  reciprocal. 

Excursion  trains  are  exceptional  but  not  unforeseen,  and  are 
not,  therefore,  as  unsafe  as  special  trains.  They  are,  neverthe- 
less, to  be  avoided  by  those  who  scrupulously  consult  their  safety. 
An  examination  of  the  statistics  of  accidents  would  conclusively 
prove  the  prudence  of  such  a  course. 

Example. 

Maryport  and  Carlisle Nov.  10, 1846.      Collision  between  a  special  train  and 

a  coal  train,  in  consequence  of  neg- 
lect on  the  part  of  the  signal  man 
at  the  Wigton  station,  and  of  the 
agent  and  superintendent  of  loco- 
motives at  Carlisle,  in  not  inform- 
ing the  driver  of  the  coal-train  that 
a  special  train  was  expected,  and 
that  he  was  not  to  start  until  it 
arrived.  Engine-driver  and  sole 
passenger  injured. 

Illustration. 

The  danger  of  collision  with  special  trains  may  be  diminished 
by  the  use  of  the  electric  telegraph. 

Example. 

Edinburgh  and  Glasgow May  19, 1845.  Special  train  from  Glasgow,  contain- 
ing only  one  passenger,  lost  speed 
by  the  way,  and  was  overtaken 
and  run  into  by  a  passenger  train 
that  started  an  hour  and  a  half 
after  it,  the  engine  of  which  crush- 
ed the  carriage  of  the  special  train, 
and  killed  the  occupant. 

RULE  IX. 

IF  THE  TRAIN  IN  WHICH  YOU  TRAVEL  MEET  WITH  AN  ACCI- 
DENT, BY  WHICH  IT  IS  STOPPED  AT  A  PART  OF  THE  LINE, 
OR  AT  A  TIME  WHERE  SUCH  STOPPAGE  IS  NOT  REGULAR,  IT 
IS  MORE  ADVISABLE  TO  QUIT  THE  CARRIAGE  THAN  TO  STAY 
IN  IT,  BUT  IN  QUITTING  IT  REMEMBER  RULES  I.,  V.,  AND  VI. 

Illustration. 

It  may  be  affirmed  generally,  that  there  is  always  more  or 
less  danger  on  a  railway  when  carriages  or  wagons  are  found 
at  a  place  where,  in  the  regular  working  of  the  line,  they  ought 


RAILWAY  ECONOMY. 


[CHAP.  XIV. 


not  to  be.  In  such  cases,  a  train  following  them,  not  expecting 
to  find  them  there,  is  likely  to  run  upon  them,  and  produce  a 
collision.  I  have  personally  witnessed  more  than  one  example 
of  this,  and  ,the  reports  of  the  railway  commissioners  supply 
several.  I  should  therefore  recommend  the  above  rule  for 
general  observance;  but  in  leaving  the  train  passengers  should 
beware  of  crossing  the  line,  or  standing  on  it,  or  of  getting  out 
of  the  carriages  at  the  wrong  side. 


Examples. 


Southwestern 


Jan.  14,  1848.  The  engine  of  a  passenger  train  hav- 
ing been  partially  disabled,  the  en- 
gine-driver got  under  it  to  repair 
the  damage.  While  thus  employed, 
a  goods  train  overtook  and  ran  into 
the  passenger  train,  causing  the  in- 
stant death  of  the  driver,  and  injury 
to  the  fireman  and  eleven  passen- 
gers; also  injury  to  one  of  the 
guards  of  the  goods  train. 

Manchester  and  Leeds March  9,  1847.  Passenger  train  stopped  by  broken 

axle ;  another  train  belonging  to  the 
Manchester  and  Leeds  Railway 
Company,  notwithstanding  signals 
were  made,  ran  into  and  injured 
the  two  hindmost  carriages. 

Midland Oct.  20,  1845.  Pilot  engine,  sent  after  a  disabled  pas- 
senger train  to  assist  it,  overtook 
and  ran  into  it.  Two  passengers 
killed. 


HULE  X. 

BEWARE  OF  YIELDING  TO  THE  SUDDEN  IMPULSE  TO  SPRING 
FROM  THE  CARRIAGE  TO  RECOVER  YOUR  HAT  WHICH  HAS 
BLOWN  OFF,  OR  A  PARCEL  DROPPED. 

Illustration. 

It  would  appear  that  there  is  an  instinctive  impulse,  which 
in  some  individuals  is  almost  irresistible,  to  leap  from  a  train 
to  recover  their  hats  when  blown  off  or  accidentally  dropped. 
The  reports  of  railway  accidents  supply  numerous  examples 
of  this. 

Examples. 

North  Midland April  J,  1844.      Passenger  jumped  out  after  his  hat. 

Great  Western July  23, 1844. 


Arm  broken  by  fall. 
Passenger  jumped  out  of  a  carriage 
after  his  hat  while  the  train  was 
in  motion.     Killed. 
Falling  between  carriages  in  motion, 
while  attempting  to  recover  his  cap, 
which  had  been  blown  off  in  to  the 
next  carriage.    Killed. 
Eastern  Counties March  4,  1846.    Jumping  out  after  hat,  hip  dislocated. 


Edinburgh  and  Glasgow Dec.  2, 1846. 


CHAP.  XIV.]          ACCIDENTS  ON  RAILWAYS. 


293 


Northwestern 

Ditto 

Manchester  and  Birmingha 


Edinburgh  and  Glasgow  . . 
Dublin  and  Kingstown.... 

Manchester  and  Leeds. . . . 

Northwestern 

Ditto  . . . 


Barham  Union. 


June  26,  1847.     Jumping  out  after  hat,  injured. 

May  10, 1847.       Ditto,  killed. 

Oct.  16,  1845.       Struck  by  a  bridge  while  getting  on 

the  roof  of  one  of  the  carriages  to 

recover  his  hat  which   had   been 

blown  off.    Killed. 

Feb.  22,  1845.      Jumping  out  after  his  hat.    Injured. 
Dec.  10.  1845.      Jumped  from  a  train  after  a  parcel 

which  had  fallen.    Injured. 
Jan.  23,  1845.       Attempting  to  recover  his  hat,  fell 

off  the  train.    Killed. 
June  26,  1847.      Jumping  after  his  hat  from  a  train  in 

motion.    Killed. 
May  10,  1847.      Jumping  after  his  hat  from  a  train  in 

motion,  fell  upon  a  block  of  stone, 

and  was  killed  on  the  spot. 
April  12,  1848.     Trespasser  run  over  while  seeking  to 

recover  his  hat,  which  had  been 

blown  across  the  line.    Killed. 


RULE  XI. 

WHEN  YOU  START  ON  YOUR  JOURNEY,  SELECT,  IF  YOU  CAN,  A 
CARRIAGE  AT  OR  AS  NEAR  AS  POSSIBLE  TO  THE  CENTRE  OF 
THE  TRAIN. 

Illustration. 

In  case  of  collision,  the  first  and  the  last  carriages  of  a  train 
are  the  most  liable  to  damage.  If  the  train  run  into  another, 
the  foremost  carriages  suffer.  If  it  be  run  into  by  a  train 
overtaking  it,  the  hindmost  carriages  suffer.  Almost  every 
case  of  collision  affords  an  example  illustrating  this  rule. 

In  case  of  the  engine  running  off  the  rails,  the  carriages  most 
likely  to  suffer  are  the  foremost. 

Examples. 

Eastern  Counties July  25,  1845.      Pilot  engine,  which  was  to  assist  a 

passenger  and  goods  train  up  the 
-  Brentwood  incline,  ran  into  it  too 
rapidly,  through  want  of  care  on 
the  part  of  the  engineman.  Two 
passengers  injured. 


Southeastern July  28, 1845. 


London  and  Brighton 


June  14, 1847. 


A  passenger  train  having  left  the 
Tonbridge  station  at  6-30,  P.M., 
without  tail  lamps,  a  pilot  engine 
was  sent  after  it  with  lamps.  Ow- 
ing to  the  reckless  conduct  of  the 
driver,  the  pilot  engine  ran  into 
the  train  at  the  Penhurst  station. 
Twenly-two  passengers  injured. 

An  engine  having  been  sent  to  assist 
a  passenger  train  up  an  incline,  ran 
into  it,  injuring  four  passengers. 


RULE'  XII. 


DO    NOT     ATTEMPT    TO     HAND     AN    ARTICLE    INTO    A    TRAIN    IN 
MOTION. 


294  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XIV. 

Example. 

London  and  Brighton Feb.  15,  1847.      While  handing  a  basket  to  the  guard 

of  a  passing  train,  had  his  coat 
caught  by  one  of  the  carriages, 
and  was  dragged  under  the  wheels. 
Killed. 

RULE  XIII. 

IF  YOU  TRAVEL  WITH  TOUR  PRIVATE  CARRIAGE,  DO  NOT  SIT  IN 
IT  ON  THE  RAILWAY.  ,  TAKE  TOUR  PLACE  BT  PREFERENCE 
IN  ONE  OF  THE  REGULAR  RAILWAT  CARRIAGES. 

Illustration. 

The  regular  railway  carriages  are  safer  in  case  of  accident 
than  a  private  carriage  placed  on  a  truck.  They  are  stronger 
and  heavier.  They  are  less  liable  to  be  thrown  off  the  rails, 
or  to  be  crushed  or  overthrown  in  case  of  a  collision.  The 
cinders  ejected  from  the  smoke  funnel  of  the  engine  are  gen- 
erally in  a  state  of  vivid  ignition,  and  if  they  happen  to  fall  on 
any  combustible  object,  are  liable  to  set  fire  to  it.  The  railway 
carriages  are  constructed  so  as  to  be  secured  from  such  an 
accident,  but  private  carriages  are  not  so,  and,  moreover,  from 
their  greater  elevation  when  placed  on  a  truck,  are  more  ex- 
posed. Serious  accidents  have  sometimes  occurred  from  this 
cause. 

The  trucks  which  carry  private  carriages  are  also  often 
placed  at  the  end  of  the  train,  the  least  safe  position.  (See 
RULE  XI.) 

Example. 

On  the  8th  Dec.,  1847,  an  accident  happened  to. the  Countess  of  Zetland,  while 
traveling  in  her  private  carriage,  on  the  Midland  Railway,  of  which  Lady  Zetland 
herself  gave  the  following  narrative.  The  accident  occurred  about  5  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon,  as  the  train  was  approaching  Rugby  from  Derby,  en  route  to  London,  and 
at  about  six  miles  from  Rugby. 

"  Aske,  Richmond,  Yorkshire. 

"  On  the  8th  of  December,  I  left  Darlington  by  the  9h.  25m.  tram  for  London.  I 
traveled  in  my  chariot  with  my  maid.  The  carriage  was  strapped  on  to  a  truck,  and 
placed  with  its  back  to  tbe  engine,  about  the  centre  of  the  train,  which  was  a  long  one. 
Soon  after  leaving  Leicester,  I  thought  I  smelt  something  burning,  and  told  my  maid 
to  look  out  of  the  window  on  her  side  to  see  if  any  thing  was  on  fire.  She  let  down 
the  window,  and  so  many  lumps  of  red-hot  coal  or  coke  were  showering  down  that 
she  put  it  up  again  immediately.  I  still  thought  I  smelt  something  burning ;  she  put 
down  the  window  again,  and  exclaimed  that  the  carriage  was  on  fire.  We  then  put 
down  the  side-windows,  and  waved  our  handkerchiefs,  screaming  *  fire'  as  loud  as 
we-  could.  No  one  took  any  notice  of  us.  I  then  pulled  up  the  windows,  lest  the 
current  of  air  through  the  carriage  should  cause  the  fire  to  burn  more  rapidly  into  the 
carriage,  and  determined  to  sit  in  it  as  long  as  possible.  After  some  time  seeing  that 
no  assistance  was  likely  to  be  afforded  us,  my  maid  became  terrified,  and,  without 
telling  me  her  intention,  opened  the  door,  let  down  the  step,  and  scrambled  out  on  to 
the  truck.  I  followed  her,  but  having  unluckily  let  myself  down  toward  the  back 
part  of  the  carriage,  which  was  on  fire,  was  obliged  to  put  up  the  step  and  close  the 


CHAP.  XIV.]  ACCIDENTS  ON  RAILWAYS.  295 

door  as  well  as  I  could  to  enable  me  to  pass  to  the  front  part  of  the  carriage,  furthest 
from  the  fire,  and  where  my  maid  was  standing.  We  clung  on  by  the  front  springs  of 
the  carriage,  screaming  '  fire  incessantly,  and  waving  our  handkerchiefs.  We  passed 
several  policemen  on  the  road,  none  of  whom  took  any  notice  of  us.  No  guard 
appeared.  A  gentleman  in  the  carriage  behind  mine  saw  us,  but  could  render  no 
assistance.  My  maid  seemed  In  an  agony  of  terror,  and  I  saw  her  sit  down  on  the 
side  of  the  truck  and  gather  her  cloak  tightly  about  her.  I  think  I  told  her  to  hold 
fast  to  the  carriage.  1  turned  away  for  a  moment  to  wave  my  handkerchief,  and 
when  I  looked  round  again  my  poor  maid  was  gone.  The  train  went  on,  the  fire  of 
course  increasing,  and  the  wind  blowing  it  toward  me.  A  man  (a  passenger)  crept 
along  the  ledge  of  the  railway  carriages,  and  came  as  near  as  possible  to  the  truck  on 
which  I  stood,  but  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  help  me.  At  last  the  train  stopped  at 
the  Rugby  station.  An  engine  was  sent  back  to  find  my  maid.  She  was  found  on 
the  road  and  taken  to  the  Leicester  Hospital,  where  she  now  lies  in  an  almost  hope- 
less state :  her  skull  fractured ;  three  of  her  fingers  have  been  amputated.  I  am  told 
the  train  was  going  at  the  rate  of  50  miles  an  hour. 

(Signed)  "S.Y.ZETLAND." 

The  train,  consisting  of  seven  passenger  carriages,  two  brake-vans,  and  four  private 
carriages  on  trucks— altogether  thirteen  separate  carriages— was  drawn  by  an  engine 
with  driver  and  fireman,  and  was  under  the  charge  of  one  guard,  who  was  placed  in 
the  rear  of  the  entire  train,  and  within  a  luggage-van,  from  which  it  was  impossible 
for  him  to  see  the  burning  carriage,  which  was  the  eighth  from  the  engine. 

RULE  XIV. 

BEWARE  OF  PROCEEDING  ON  A  COACH  ROAD  ACROSS  A  RAILWAY 
AT  A  LEVEL  CROSSING.  NEVER  DO  SO  WITHOUT  THE  EXPRESS 
SANCTION  OF  THE  GATEKEEPER. 

Illustration. 

On  the  English  railways,  common  roads  are  usually  carried 
over  or  under  the  railway,  which  is  crossed  by  or  crosses  them, 
by  bridges.  This,  however,  is  not  invariable,  and  the  greatest 
caution  should  be  observed  in  passing  such  level  crossings. 
A  restive  horse  has  frequently  produced  injurious  or  fatal 
accidents  in  such  cases. 

RULE  XV. 

WHEN  YOU  CAN  CHOOSE  YOUR  TIME,  TRAVEL  BY  DAY  RATHER 
THAN  BY  NIGHT  ;  AND  IF  NOT  URGENTLY  PRESSED,  DO  NOT 
TRAVEL  IN  FOGGY  WEATHER. 

Accidents  from  collision  and  from  encountering  impedimenta 
accidentally  placed  on  the  road  happen  more  frequently  at  night 
and  in  foggy  weather,  than  by  day  and  in  clear  weather. 


Persons  on  or  near  railways  appear  to  be  seized  with  a 
delirium  or  fascination  which  determines  their  will  by  an  irre- 
sistible impulse  to  throw  themselves  under  an  approaching 
train.  Cases  of  this  kind  occur  so  frequently,  and  under  such 
circumstances  as  can  not  be  adequately  explained  by  predis- 
position to  suicide. 


296  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CKAP.  XV. 

Examples. 

Midland June  20, 1845.  Plate- layer,  jumped  suddenly  in  fronS 

of  a  train  in  motion ;  no  cause  can. 
be  assigned. 

Ditto June  25, 1845,  Trespasser,  ran  from  behind  a  bridge, 

and  laid  himself  across  the  rails  in 
front  of  an  approaching  train. 

Ditto Sept.  18,  1845.  Trespasser,  laid  his  neck  on  the  rail 

in  front  of  an  approaching  train ; 
supposed  to  be  insane. 

Southwestern June  9,  1847.  Francis  Arney  thre vv^  himself  under 

the  wheels  of  train.  Killed. 

Glasgow  and  Paisley Nov.  19,  1847.  A  woman  of  dissipated  habits  rushed 

from  the  side  of  the  railway,  and 
throwing  herself  in  front  of  an 
approaching  train,  was  run  over. 
Killed. 

Southwestern Feb.  19, 1848.  Person  committed  suicide  by  placing 

himself  before  an  approaching  train. 

Sheffield  and  Manchester May  4, 1846.  Person  committed  suicide  by  laying 

himself  across  the  rails  in  front  of 
an  approaching  train. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

ELECTRIC   TELEGRAPH. 

ALTHOUGH  the  subject  of  the  present  volume  is  limited  to  the 
economy  of  railways,  and  therefore  a  notice  of  the  adaptation  of 
the  electric  telegraph  to  railway  purposes  might,  strictly  speak- 
ing, be  considered  as  sufficient,  yet,  probably,  from  the  great 
interest  attached  to  this  curious  application  of  physical  science 
to  commercial  and  social  objects,  some  brief  exposition  of  its 
origin  and  the  mode  of  pi-oducing  its  effects  may  not  be  unac- 
ceptable. 

The  discovery  of  electricity  as  a  science  dates  within  a  cen- 
tury, and  the  discovery  of  those  phenomena  which  have  been 
rendered  subservient  to  telegraphic  purposes  dates  within  a 
much  more  brief  period,  having  been  for  the  most  part  made 
within  the  last  25  years. 

The  leading  phenomena  of  electricity  had  not  fang  engaged 
the  attention  of  the  scientific  world  before  the  idea  of  conveying 
intelligence  by  them  to  a  distance  was  suggested,  and  many  in- 
genious persons  employed  themselves  in  contriving  telegraphs  by 
wtach  this  might  be  accomplished. 

Several  of  these  had  been  suggested,  and  actuary  tested  by 


CHAP.  XV.]  ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH.  297 

experiment  on  a  considerable  scale,  in  the  early  part  of  the 
present  century. 

It  was  not,  however,  until  within  the  last  15  or  16  years  that 
the  invention,  which  has  now  been  reduced  to  such  extensive 
practice,  actually  assumed  a  form  in  which  it  might  be  regarded 
as  practically  useful. 

The  means  whereby  electricity  has  become  useful  as  a  tele- 
graphic agent  are  easily  explained. 

The  electric  influence  admits  of  being  propagated  to  a  distance 
from  the  place  of  its  production,  in  virtue  of  a  quality  by  which 
it  passes  by  preference  over  certain  substances  rather  than 
others. 

These  substances  are  called  for  distinction  Conductors,  while 
the  other  class  of  substances  upon  which  the  influence  refuses 
to  pass  are  called  Non-conductors. 

The  most  conspicuous  examples  of  the  one  class  are  the 
metals ;  the  most  conspicuous  examples  of  the  other  are  the 
resins,  wax,  silk,  &c.  The  rate  at  which  the  electric  influence 
passes  along  a  conducting  substance,  such  as  a  metallic  wire  or 
rod,  is  not  accurately  ascertained,  but  it  appears  tolerably  cer- 
tain that  it  is  not  less  than  the  speed  at  which  light  is  propagated, 
that  is  to  say,  at  the  rate  of  about  200,000  miles  per  second. 

The  second  quality  by  which  electricity  subserves  to  tele- 
graphic purposes  is  its  power  of  producing  sensible  or  mechan- 
ical effects  of  various  kinds  after  having  passed  over  any  length 
of  a  conducting  substance. 

These  effects,  which  may  be  used  as  signals,  are  very  various. 
Among  them  are  the  production  of  a  visible  spark,  the  decom- 
position of  water,  the  deflexion  of  a  magnetic  needle  from  its 
position  of  rest,  and  the  power  to  convert  iron  suddenly  into  a 
magnet,  and  as  suddenly  to  divest  it  of  the  magnetic  virtue. 

The  first  two  of  these  effects  were  suggested  at  an  early 
period  in  the  history  of  this  invention,  but  the  two  latter  were 
ultimately  found  to  be  the  most  available,  and  are  now  the  only 
effects  used  as  signals. 

To  explain  the  deflexion,  let  us  suppose  a  copper  wire  ex- 
tended over  the  magnetic  needle  of  a  common  compass  so  that 
the  direction  of  the  wire  shall  be  parallel  to  the  needle  without 
touching  it.  In  this  state  of  things  the  needle  will  remain  un- 
disturbed ;  but  if  we  send  a  galvanic  current  along  the  wire,  which 
may  be  done  by  connecting  the  extremities  of  the  wire  with  a 
common  galvanic  trough,  the  needle  will  instantly  throw  itself 
at  right  angles  to  the  wire,  and  will  remain  in  that  position  so 

N* 


298  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [OHAP.  XV. 

long  as  the  galvanic  current  is  maintained ;  but  if  that  current 
be  discontinued,  by  withdrawing  either  end  of  the  wire  from 
the  trough,  the  needle  will  instantly  resume  its  position  of  rest. 

It  is  found,  also,  that  the  north  pole  of  the  needle  will  turn, 
in  this  case,  in  the  one  direction  or  in  the  other,  according  to 
the  direction  given  to  the  galvanic  current.  If  this  current  flow 
in  one  direction,  the  north  pole  will  throw  itself  to  the  east,  and 
the  south  to  the  west ;  if  it  flow  in  the  contrary  direction,  the 
north  pole  will  be  thrown  to  the  west,  and  the  south  pole  to  the 
east. 

To  explain  the  last-mentioned  effect  of  the  sudden  conversion 
of  iron  into  a  magnet,  and  the  sudden  destruction  of  the  mag- 
netic virtue  thus  imparted,  let  us  suppose  a  copper  wire  to  be 
coiled  round  a  piece  of  soft  iron  spirally,  so  that  the  successive 
coils  shall  not  touch  each  other  or  touch  the  iron,  which  may  be 
done  by  coating  the  wire  with  silk,  or  any  resinous  or  non-conduct- 
ing substance.  This  being  done,  let  us  suppose  that  an  electric 
current  is  transmitted  through  the  wire,  so  that  it  shall  flow 
spirally  round  the  rod  of  soft  iron,  which  may  be  effected  by 
placing,  as  before,  the  ends  of  the  wire  in  a  galvanic  trough.  If 
steel  filings,  a  needle,  or  any  light  piece  of  iron,  be  brought  near 
the  iron  thus  circumstanced,  they  will  instantly  be  attracted  by 
it,  showing  that  it  has  acquired  the  magnetic  virtue  ;  and  this 
effect  will  continue  to  be  produced  so  long  as  the  galvanic  cur- 
rent shall  be  maintained  along  the  spiral  wire ;  but  the  instant 
the  end  of  the  wire  is  withdrawn  from  the  galvanic  trough,  the 
magnetic  virtue  deserts  the  iron,  and  it  will  no  longer  attract. 

To  render  intelligible  the  means  by  which  these  properties 
have  been  made  instrumental  to  the  transmission  of  intelligence 
to  a  distance,  let  us  suppose  a  quantity  of  copper  wire  to  be 
coated  with  a  substance  which  is  at  once  a  non-conductor  of 
electricity,  which  is  impenetrable  by  moisture,  and  is  capable 
of  withstanding  the  vicissitudes  of  weather.  The  wire  thus 
inclosed  still  retains  its  power  of  transmitting  the  electric  influ- 
ence, while  the  non-conducting  coating  in  which  it  is  enveloped 
effectually  prevents  the  escape  of  the  subtle  fluid.  The  elec- 
tric fluid  flowing  along  such  a  wire  may  be  regarded  as  in  all 
respects  similar  to  water  or  gas  flowing  through  a  tube,  being 
as  effectually  confined  within  the  tube  of  non-conducting  sub- 
stance which  surrounds  the  wire  as  the  water  or  gas  in  the  iron 
tube  provided  to  conduct  it,  but  being  infinitely  more  free  to 
move  within  this  tube  than  is  either  the  water  or  the  gas ;  in- 
deed, the  power  of  numbers  can  scarcely  express  the  superior 


CHAP.  XV.]  ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH.  299 

freedom  of  motion  which  the  one  fluid  has,  compared  with  the 
others.  In  passing  along  the  wire,  in  this  case,  the  electric 
fluid  loses  none  of  its  virtue ;  however  extended  the  wire  may 
be,  on  arriving  at  its  extremity,  it  will  be  capable  of  producing 
the  same  sensible  or  mechanical  effects.  It  will  still  deflect  the 
magnetic  needle,  or  impart  the  attractive  power  to  soft  iron. 

Now  let  us  imagine  the  globe  of  the  earth  to  be  surrounded 
by  such  a  wire  as  we  have  here  described,  the  extremities  being 
brought  to  the  right  and  left  hand  of  the  operator.  The  mo- 
ment the  galvanic  current  is  transmitted  through  it  at  one  end, 
a  magnetic  needle  will  be  deflected  at  the  other  end,  or  a  piece 
of  soft  iron,  arranged  as  above  described,  will  receive  the  at- 
tractive power,  and  this  after  the  electric  fluid  has  made  the 
circuit  of  the  globe.  The  interval  of  time  which  will  elapse 
between  the  moment  at  which  the  electric  fluid  starts  on  its 
trip  and  the  moment  when  it  arrives  at  and  deflects  the  needle, 
or  imparts  the  attractive  power  to  the  iron,  will  not  be  so  much 
as  the  eighth  part  of  the  interval  between  two  beats  of  a  com- 
mon clock ;  yet  in  this  interval  the  fluid  will  have  made  the 
entire  circuit  of  the  globe. 

It  will  now  be  easily  understood  how,  by  carrying  this  wire 
coated  by  non-conductors,  as  just  described,  to  comparatively 
short  distances  along  the  sides  of  roads,  and  supported  on  non- 
conducting rollers,  signals  may  be  made  instantaneously  at  dis- 
tances which,  however  great,  are  incomparably  less  than  that 
which  we  have  here  supposed. 

It  now  only  remains  to  explain  in  what  manner  the  signals 
may  be  multiplied  and  varied  so  as  to  indicate  letters,  figures, 
and  words. 

I  have  explained  that  a  magnetic  needle  will  be  deflected 
either  to  the  right  or  to  the  left,  according  to  the  direction  given 
to  the  current.  Now  it  is  always  easy  to  give  the  current  one 
direction  or  the  other  by  merely  changing  the  ends  of  the  gal- 
vanic trough  with  which  the  wire  is  connected.  A  person, 
therefore,  in  London,  having  command  over  the  end  of  a  wire 
which  extends  to  Edinburgh,  and  is  there  connected  with  a 
magnetic  needle,  can  deflect  this  needle  to  the  right  or  to  the 
left  at  will. 

Thus  a  single  wire  and  a  magnetic  needle  are  capable  of 
making  at  least  two  signals. 

But  signals,  whatever  may  be  the  form  of  telegraph  used, 
may  be  multiplied  by  repetition.  Thus  the  operator  at  London 
may  make  the  needle  at  Edinburgh  move  twice  successively  to 


3<fo  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XV 

the  left,  and  this  may  be  conventionally  settled  as  a  sign,  inde- 
pendent of  that  which  is  produced  by  a  single  movement  to  the 
left.  In  like  manner,  two  successive  movements  to  the  right 
will  supply  another  signal,  and  thus  we  have  four  independent 
signals. 

But  from  these  four  signals  we  may  immediately  produce  four 
more,  as  we  may  combine  one  movement  to  the  right  with  two 
to  the  left,  one  to  the  left  with  two  to  the  right,  or  one  to  the 
right  with  one  to  the  left,  or  two  to  the  right  with  two  to  the 
left;  and  thus  we  have  eight  independent  signals. 

We  may  carry  this  method  further,  and  so  arrange  the  sys- 
tem that  three  successive  movements  to  the  right  and  three 
successive  movements  to  the  left  shall  have  independent  signi- 
fications;  and  these  again  may  be  combined  with  each  of  the 
eight  signals  already  explained  ;  and,  in  short,  we  may  carry 
this  system  to  an  extent  which  shall  be  limited  only  by  the  in- 
convenience of  the  delay  which  would  take  place  in  making  the 
repetitions  necessary  for  such  signals. 

Apart  from  this  delay,  however,  it  is  clear  that  with  a  single 
wire  and  a  single  needle  we  may  easily  obtain  expressions  for 
all  the  letters  of  the  alphabet  and  the  ten  numerals. 

But  to  obviate  the  inconvenience  which  would  attend  multi- 
plied repetitions  in  the  movements  of  a  single  needle,  we  may 
provide  two  independent  wires  which  shall  act  upon  two  inde- 
pendent needles. 

Each  of  these  needles  primarily  -will  afford  two  independent 
signals  by  their  movements  right  and  left.  These  four  signals 
may  be  combined  in  pairs,  so  as  to  afford  four  other  signals  pro- 
ducible by  a  single  movement.  Thus,  simultaneously  with  the 
right-hand  movement  of  one  needle  we  may  produce  the  right- 
hand  movement  of  the  other.  In  the  same  way  we  may  simul- 
taneously produce  the  left-hand  movement  of  both,  or  the  right- 
hand  of  either  combined  with  the  left-hand  movement  of  the 
other,  which  would  give  eight  independent  signals,  the  produc- 
tion of  each  of  which  would  occupy  no  more  time  than  that  of 
a  single  movement.  We  may  then  adapt  the  signals  by  double 
movement  of  each  needle,  which,  combined  with  each  other, 
and  with  the  single  movements,  will  afford  another  set  of  com- 
binations ;  and  by  combining  these  systems,  we  may  obviously  ob- 
tain all  the  signals  requisite  to  express  the  letters  and  numerals. 

Such  is,  in  general,  the  nature  of  the  signals  adopted  in  the 
electric  telegraphs  in  ordinary  use  in  England,  and  in  some  other 
parts  of  Europe. 


CHAP.  XV.]  ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH.  301 

It  may  aid  the  conception  of  the  mode  of  operation  and  com- 
munication if  we  assimilate  the  apparatus  to  the  dial  of  a  clock 
with  its  two  hands.  Let  us  suppose  that  a  dial,  instead  of  car- 
rying hands,  carried  two  needles,  and  that  their  north  poles, 
when  quiescent,  both  pointed  to  12  o'clock. 

When  the  galvanic  current  is  conducted  under  either  of  them, 
the  north  pole  will  turn  either  to  3  o'clock  or  to  9  o'clock,  ac- 
cording to  the  direction  given  to  the  current. 

Now,  it  is  easy  to  imagine  a  person  in  London  governing  the 
hands  of  such  a  clock  erected  in  Edinburgh,  where  their  indica- 
tions might  be  interpreted  according  to  a  way  previously  agreed 
upon.  Thus,  we  may  suppose  that  when  the  needle  No.  1 
turns  to  9,  the  letter  A  is  expressed  ;  if  it  turn  to  3,  the  letter 
B  is  expressed.  If  the  needle  No.  2  turn  to  9  o'clock,  the  letter 
C  is  expressed ;  if  it  turn  to  3,  the  letter  D.  If  both  needles 
are  turned  to  9,  tho  letter  E  is  expressed  ;  if  both  to  3,  the  let- 
ter F.  If  No.  1  be  turned  to  9,  and  No.  2  to  3,  the  letter  G  is 
expressed ;  if  No.  2  be  turned  to  9,  and  No.  1  to  3,  the  letter 
H,  and  so  forth. 

It  may  be  presumed  that  there  can  be  but  little  difficulty  in 
conceiving  how,  by  practice,  two  persons  may  communicate 
with  each  other  by  such  means,  almost,  if  not  altogether,  as  rap- 
idly as  they  could  write  and  read. 

But  a  difficulty  will  doubtless  suggest  itself  to  the  intelligent 
and  inquisitive  reader.  It  will  be  asked  whether  a  sentinel 
must  be  kept  ever  on  the  watch  to  observe  when  a  message  is 
coming  ;  for  as  the  hands  of  our  clock  do  not  speak,  notice  could 
only  be  received  of  a  coming  message  by  the  incessant  vigilance 
of  an  observer. 

Would  it  not,  however,  be  admirable  if  we  could  attach  to  this 
clock  a  striking  apparatus  which  should  address  the  ear  the  mo- 
ment a  message  is  about  to  be  sent,  and  which  should,  as  it 
were,  awaken  the  attention  of  the  person  on  duty? 

Such  an  expedient  has,  in  fact,  been  contrived.  The  person 
in  London  who  desires  to  communicate  a  message  to  the  tele- 
graphic agent  at  Edinburgh  can  actually  make  the  clock  strike 
at  his  will,  and  thus  command  attention. 

The  manner  in  which  this  is  accomplished  is  as  admirable 
by  its  simplicity  and  efficiency  as  that  which  we  have  just  de- 
scribed. 

The  quality  resorted  to  in  this  case  is  the  last  of  those  we 
have  mentioned  above,  namely,  the  power  to  impart  the  mag- 
netic virtue  at  will  to  soft  iron. 


302  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XV. 

One  of  the  wires  conducted  from  London  passes  into  the  cham- 
ber of  the  telegraphic  apparatus  at  Edinburgh,  where  it  is  con- 
nected with  a  coil  of  wire  which  envelops  a  rod  of  soft  iron. 
The  ends  of  this  rod,  which  has  the  form  of  a  horse-shoe,  are 
placed  in  contiguity,  but  not  in  contact,  with  the  detent  of  a 
striking  apparatus  like  an  alarm-bell.  When  a  message  is  about 
to  be  sent  from  London  this  bell-wire  is  put  in  communication 
with  the  galvanic  trough  in  London.  Immediately  the  subtle 
fluid  flows  along  the  wire  and  converts  the  horse-shoe  rod  at 
Edinburgh  into  a  powerful  magnet. 

The  attractive  power  which  it  thus  suddenly  receives  irresist- 
ibly draws  toward  it  the  detent  of  the  alarum,  and  lets  go  the 
bell,  which  continues  to  ring  until  the  agent  of  the  telegraph  at 
Edinburgh  answers  the  demand  of  the  messenger  from  London, 
and  tells  him  he  is  attentive.  Then  the  London  communicator 
withdraws  the  galvanic  current  from  the  bell-wire,  the  horse- 
shoe at  Edinburgh  is  instantly  deprived  of  its  magnetic  virtue, 
the  detent  flies  back  to  its  place  by  the  action  of  a  spring,  and 
silences  the  bell. 

I  do  not  pretend,  nor  is  it  necessaiy  here,  to  go  into  the  prac- 
tical details  of  the  electric  telegraph.  My  object  is  merely  to 
render  its  principle  and  mode  of  communication  generally  intel- 
ligible, which  I  trust  will  be  effected  by  the  preceding  observa- 
tions. 

While  the  observer  stands  reading  the  indications  of  the  dial 
plate,  the  amanuensis  sits  beside  him,  committing  to  paper  from 
dictation  the  message,  which  is  speedily  transmitted  to  those  to 
whom  it  is  addressed. 

This  is  generally  the  mode  in  which  the  electric  telegraphs 
in  Europe  are  constructed  and  worked. 

In  the  United  States,  where  the  electric  telegraph  is  exten- 
sively used,  a  different,  and  in  some  respects  a  more  efficient, 
mode  of  operation  has  been  adopted.  There  the  signal  by  mag- 
netic needle  is  not  used,  and  the  enttre  operation  of  the  tele- 
graph is  effected  in  virtue  of  the  power  to  make  and  unmake  a 
magnet  by  coiling  the  electric  current  round  soft  iron.  The 
paramount  advantage  of  the  American  system  is  that  it  not  only 
transmits  the  message,  but  writes  it. 

Incidental  to  this  there  is  a  further  advantage,  that  it  is  possi- 
ble to  keep  the  message  secret  even  from  the  agents  of  the 
telegraph. 

The  principle  of  the  American  telegraph  is  easily  explained. 

Let  us  suppose  a  small  lever  formed  of  steel  and  balanced  on 


CKAP.  XV.]  ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH.  303 

a  point.  At  one  end  of  this  lever  let  a  point  be  formed,  so  as  to 
constitute  a  pencil  or  style.  Under  the  other  end  let  a  horse- 
shoe of  soft  iron  be  placed,  at  such  a  distance  that,  whea  the 
latter  shall  receive  the  magnetic  virtue  from  the  electric  current, 
the  lever  will  be  drawn  to  the  horse-shoe;  and  let  it  be  so 
arranged,  by  means  of  a  spring  or  otherwise,  that,  when  the 
horse-shoe  shall  lose  its  magnetic  virtue,  the  lever  shall  detach 
itself  from  the  magnet,  and  the  end  bearing  the  pencil  or  style 
shall  fall. 

By  such  an  arrangement,  whenever  the  soft  iron  is  ren- 
dered magnetic,  the  pencil  will  be  raised  to  a  certain  definite 
position,  and  will  be  maintained  in  that  position  so  long  as  the 
horse-shoe  continues  to  be  magnetic ;  but  the  moment  the 
horse-shoe  loses  its  magnetic  power,  then  the  pencil  will  fall. 

Now;  suppose  that  immediately  above  the  pencil  is  placed  a 
small  roller  or  cylinder,  under  which  a  band  or  ribbon  of  paper 
passes,  and  that  this  paper  receives  a  slow  and  regular  progress- 
ive motion  from  the  cylinder. 

Whenever  the  pencil  is  raised  by  the  magnet,  its  point  presses 
upon  the  paper,  and  if  it  is  kept  pressed  against  the  paper,  which 
moves  over  it,  a  line  will  be  traced  by  the  pencil.  If  the  pencil 
be  only  momentarily  brought  into  contact  with  the  paper,  a, dot 
will  be  produced  ;  if  it  be  kept  in  contact  with  the  paper  only 
twice  the  length  of  time  necessary  to  produce  a  dot,  a  line  will 
be  produced,  the  length  of  which  will  be  twice  the  magnitude 
of  the  dot ;  if  it  be  kept  in  contact  with  the  paper  three  timea 
as  long  as  is  necessary  to  make  a  dot,  a  line  will  be  produced  of 
three  times  the  length,  and  so  on. 

It  is  clear,  then,  that  if  we  have  the  power  of  keeping  the 
pencil  any  determinate  time  in  contact  with  the  paper,  or  of 
making  it  only  momentarily  touch  the  paper,  the  paper  being 
understood,  as  before  mentioned,  to  be  kept  moving  uniformly 
and  progressively  over  the  pencil,  we  can  at  pleasure  make  dots 
and  lines  of  various  determinate  lengths,  and  also  combinations 
of  dots  and  lines  of  different  lengths. 

We  can  further,  by  leaving  the  pencil  at  intervals  of  more  or 
less  length  out  of  contact  with  the  paper,  leave  between  these 
lines  and  dots  spaces  of  more  or  less  width. 

It  is  easy  to  imagine  that  a  conventional  alphabet  may  be 
formed  by  these  lines  and  dots,  and  their  combinations,  and  that 
words  may  be  thus  formed.  The  spaces  left  while  the  pencil 
is  not  in  contact  with  the  paper  might  indicate  the  separation  of 
the  letters,  words,  and  sentences.  Small  spaces  might  indicate 


304  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XV. 

the  separation  of  letters,  greater  spaces  the  separation  of  words, 
and  greater  still  the  separation  of  sentences. 

As  the  formation  of  an  alphabet  by  such  signs  is  evidently  arbi- 
trary, and  as  infinitely  various  alphabets  may  be  formed  by  the 
endless  combinations  which  such  a  system  offers,  no  particular 
signs  need  be  indicated  here,  it  being  sufficient  for  our  present 
purpose  to  show  the  principle. 

To  explain  the  operation  of  this  system,  let  us  suppose  a  per- 
son at  New  York  desirous  of  sending  a  message  to  New  Orleans. 
A  wire  of  the  usual  kind  connects  the  two  places.  ' 

The  end  at  New  Orleans  is  coiled  round  a  horse-shoe  magnet, 
as  above  described.  The  end  at  New  York  can  be  put  in  com- 
munication with  the  galvanic  trough  at  the  will  of  the  person 
sending  the  message.  The  instant  the  communication  is  estab- 
lished, the  horse-shoe  of  soft  iron  at  New  Orleans  becomes  mag- 
netic, it  attracts  the  small  lever,  and  presses  the  pencil  against 
the  paper. 

The  moment  the  operator  at  New  York  detaches  the  wire 
from  the  trough,  the  horse-shoe  at  New  Orleans  loses  its  mag- 
netic power,  and  the  pencil  drops  from  the  paper.  It  is  clear, 
then,  that  the  operator  at  New  York,  by  putting  the  wire  in 
contact  with  the  trough,  and  detaching  it,  and  by  maintaining 
the  contact  for  longer  or  shorter  intervals,  can  make  the  pencil 
at  New  Orleans  act  upon  the  paper,  as  already  described,  so  as 
to  make  upon  it  dots  and  lines  of  determinate  length,  combined 
in  any  manner  he  may  desire,  and  separated  by  any  desired 
intervals. 

In  a  word,  the  operator  at  New  York  can  write  a  letter  with 
a  pencil  and  paper  which  are  at  New  Orleans. 

Provisions  in  such  an  arrangement  are  made  so  that  the  motion 
of  the  paper  does  not  begin  until  the  message  is  about  to  be  com- 
menced, and  ceases  when  the  message  is  written.  This  is 
easily  accomplished  by  the  same  principle  as  has  been  already 
desci'ibed  in  the  case  of  the  bell,  which  gives  notice  to  the  at- 
tendant in  the  European  telegraph.  The  cylinders  which  .con- 
duct the  band  of  paper  are  moved  by  wheel-work,  and  a  weight 
properly  regulated.  Their  motion  is  imparted  by  a  detent, 
which  detent  is  detached  by  the  action  of  the  magnet,  and  returns 
to  its  position,  and  stops  the  motion  when  the  magnet  loses  its 
virtue. 

Without  going  into  detail  on  this  point,  it  is  evident  that  the 
object  may  be  accomplished  by  various  expedients. 

Such  is  the  principle  of  the  electric  telegraph  as  used  in 


CHAP.  XV.]  ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH.  305 

the  United  States.  A  black-lead  pencil  was  first  adopted,  and 
afterward  a  sort  of  fountain-pen,  but  ultimately  it  was  found 
most  convenient  to  use  a  style  consisting  of  a  steel  point,  which 
forms  a  trace  upon  the  paper,  and  produces  marks  in  relief  like 
those  with  which  blind  persons  are  enabled  to  read. 

When  the  message  is  completed,  the  strip  of  paper  on  which 
it  is  wi'itten  is  cut  off,  and  inclosed  in  an  envelope  addressed  to 
the  person  for  whom  it  is  intended. 

It  is  possible  by  this  system  for  two  correspondents  to  have 
a  language,  of  which  they  alone  have  the  key,  and  even  the 
operator  who  communicates  the  message  may  be  unable  to  in- 
terpret what  he  himself  writes.  The  address  alone,  in  this  case, 
is  rendered  intelligible  to  the  agent  of  the  telegraph. 

Another  advantage  of  this  system  is  that  it  supersedes  the 
necessity  of  an  amanuensis,  and  prevents  the  possibility  of  error 
in  taking  down  a  message. 

In  the  needle  telegraph  one  person  interprets  and  reads,  and 
another  writes,  and  the  signals,  as  fast  as  they  are  made,  are, 
as  it  were,  effaced  and  obliterated.  In  the  American  telegraph 
the  signals  themselves  are  rendered  permanent. 

While  I  am  writing  these  pages,  projects  are  in  progress  for 
electric  communication  on  a  scale  still  more  extensive,  and  having 
objects  the  importance  of  which  it  is  difficult  to  estimate.  It  is 
proposed  to  establish  electric  wires  between  London  and  the 
Continent,  across  the  Straits  of  Dover,  by  sinking  them  in  the 
bottom  of  the  Channel.  If  this  be  realized,  intelligence  may  be 
instantaneously  transmitted  from  the  English  capital  to  any  part 
of  Europe  to  which  the  telegraphic  arrangements  extend. 

But  this  project,  startling  as  it  is,  sinks  into  insignificance  in 
comparison  with  another  which  has  been  still  more  recently 
announced. 

It  is  said  that  at  New  York  a  proposition  has  been  made  to 
establish  electric  wires  between  New  York  and  England,  by 
sinking  them  to  the  bottom  of  the  Atlantic.  The  estimate  of 
the  expenses  of  realizing  this  project  is  said  to  be  about  c£600,000 ; 
and  by  the  expenditure  of  this  sum  thirty-six  wires,  protected  by 
a  coating  of  gutta  percha,  and  guaranteed  to  last  for  ten  years, 
can  be  carried  through  the  Atlantic  from  New  York  to  London. 
The  projectors  are  reported  to  have  offered  to  guarantee  the 
completion  of  the  arrangements  in  less  than  two  years.  The 
total  length  of  the  wires  to  be  employed  would  be  about  120,000 
miles. 

In  England  the  electric  telegraphs  are  in  the  hands  of  a  private 


306  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XV. 

company,  whicji  has  a  practical  monopoly  of  them  ;  and,  as  is 
invariably  the  case  with  all  monopolies,  complaints  and  remon- 
strances, well  or  ill  founded,  are  constantly  brought  against  the 
establishment. 

A  central  station  is  established  in  London,  in  Lothbury,  near 
the  Bank  of  England.  The  lower  part  of  the  building  is  ap- 
propriated to  the  reception  of  orders  and  messages.  A  person 
desiring  to  forward  a  message  to  any  part  of  England  connected 
with  London  by  the  wires  writes  his  message  on  a  sheet  of  letter- 
paper,  provided  for  the  purpose,  and  prepared  according  to  a 
printed  form,  having  the  names  and  address  of  the  writer,  and 
of  the  party  to  whom  the  message  is  communicated,  in  blank 
spaces  assigned  to  them,  together  with  the  date  and  hour  at 
which  the  message  is  dispatched.  The  answer  is  received, 
accompanied  by  the  date  and  hour  at  which  the  message  arrived, 
and  at  which  the  answer  was  dispatched. 

The  tariff  of  charges  for  transmission  of  telegraphic  messages 
differs  very  much,  according  to  the  destination  of  the  message, 
and  is  not  strictly  regulated  by  distance. 

The  charge,  for  example,  from  London  to  Dover  is,  or  was 
lately,  about  6d.  a  word;  while  the  charge  between  Birmingham 
and  Stafford,  a  greater  distance,  was  something  less  than  4d,  a 
word.  The  charge  between  London  and  York  is  5-4d.  per 
word,  between  London  and  Edinburgh  7-8d.  per  word,  and 
between  London  and  Glasgow  8-4d.  per  word. 

The  room  containing  the  telegraphic  instruments  is  in  the  upper 
part  of  the  building,  to  which  communications  by  wires  are  made 
from  a  cellar  in  the  lower  part,  where  the  galvanic  apparatus  is 
deposited.  This  apparatus  consists  of  a  collection  of  galvanic 
batteries,  having  different  powers,  to  be  used  according  to  the 
distance  to  which  the  message  is  to  be  transmitted.  The  wires 
which  communicate  between  this  establishment  and  the  termini 
of  the  several  railways  are  inclosed  in  leaden  pipes,  which  are 
carried  under  the  streets.  There  they  are  connected  with  the 
wires  supported  on  poles,  with  which  every  railway  traveler  is 
familiar,  and  by  which  the  communication  is  maintained  with 
different  parts  of  the  country. 

It  is  found  that  by  practice  the  operators  of  the  telegraphic 
instruments  are  able  to  communicate  about  20  words  per  minute, 
being  nearly  at  the  same  rate  as  ordinary  writing. 

In  the  chief  telegraphic  stations  in  different  parts  of  the 
country,  besides  the  transmission  of  private  messages,  a  sort  of 
subscription  intelligence  rooms  have  been  opened,  where  the 


CHAP.  XV.]  ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH.  307 

subscribers  can  daily  and  hourly  obtain  in  common  the  general 
commercial  information  which  is  most  in  request;  such  as  the 
state  of  the  stock  and  share  market,  and  of  the  money  market; 
the  state  of  the  wind  and  weather  at  different  ports  of  the  king- 
dom ;  shipping  and  sporting  intelligence ;  the  rates  of  the  markets 
of  every  description;  and  the  general  political  news  of  most 
importance.  These  subscription-rooms  are  supplied  by  the 
establishment  in  London,  at  which  a  sort  of  telegraphic  editor 
prepares  from  the  morning  papers  at  an  early  hour  a  short 
abstract  of  the  most  important  news — the  stock  market,  &c.,  &c. 

This,  when  prepared  and  written  out,  is  sent  up  to  the  instru- 
ment room,  from  whence  it  is  dispatched  to  the  various  subscrip- 
tion rooms  in  different  parts  of  the  country.  It  arrives  there  by 
8  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  is  immediately  accessible  to  the 
subscribers.  All  news  of  adequate  importance  is  thus  diffused 
over  the  kingdom  literally  with  the  speed  of  lightning.  Thus 
the  public  in  Edinburgh  are  informed  by  8  o'clock  in  the  morning 
of  all  interesting  facts  which  appear  in  the  London  morning 
journals,  which  are  not  issued  in  the  metropolis  until  6  o'clock. 

The  provincial  journals  also  profit  by  these  means  of  obtaining 
intelligence,  and  are  enabled  to  supply  in  their  columns  all  im- 
portant news  as  early  as  it  can  be  supplied  by  the  London  journals. 

Whatever  be  the  nature  of  signal  used,  the  wires  which  con- 
vey the  electric  current  over  the  country  may  be  constructed  in 
either  of  two  ways,  the  one  by  being  supported  on  poles,  as  is 
usual  in  this  country;  the  other  by  being  sunk  under  ground  like 
gas  or  water-pipes.  The  latter  method  has  some  advantage  in 
security,  being  less  liable  to  be  disturbed  by  ill-disposed  persons 
or  by  accident.  It  has  been  found  that  the  flight  of  birds  has 
sometimes  accidentally  broken  the  communication,  the  birds 
striking  the  wire,  and  breaking  or  deranging  it;  violent  storms 
also  have  occasionally  blown  down  the  posts  and  broken  the  wires. 

In  Prussia,  where  there  are  about  1400  miles  of  electric  tele- 
graph in  operation,  the  wire  is  buried,  being  protected  with  a 
covering  of  gutta  percha.  It  is  said  that  in  the  late  political 
disturbances  a  small  portion  of  the  electric  telegraph,  which 
was  erected  above  ground  on  posts  in  that  country,  was  destroyed 
by  the  populace,  while  all  that  portion  which  was  buried  remained 
undisturbed. 

An  improvement  on  the  American  method  has  lately  been 
projected,  though,  so  far  as  I  am  informed,  not  yet  actually 
realized.  Instead  of  making  arbitrary  signs  by  a  style  on  paper, 
consisting  of  lines  and  dots,  it  is  proposed  to  make  the  magnet 


308  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XVI. 

actually  bring  types  to  act  upon  the  paper,  so  as  to  print  the 
words  in  the  ordinary  language. 

Whatever  be  the  nature  of  the  sign  employed  by  this  method, 
it  is  estimated  that  1000  words  an  hour  can  be  printed  by  it. 

The  extent  of  electric  telegraph  in  operation  in  England  is  at 
present  about  2000  miles.  The  extent  in  operation  in  America 
is  said  to  be  10,000  miles.  The  East  India  Company  have 
adopted  a  project  for  establishing  a  line  of  telegraphic  communi- 
cation through  a  portion  of  their  territory,  which  will  consist  of 
10,000  miles  in  length,  and  will  be  laid  under  ground. 

The  cost  of  constructing  the  electric  telegraph  varies  extremely 
in  different  countries,  according  to  the  conditions  of  the  popula- 
tion, and  the  cost  of  labor,  land,  and  materials.  In  England  the 
electric  telegraph  is  said  to  have  cost  at  the  rate  of  d£150  a  mile, 
while  in  America  its  cost  has  not  exceeded  <£30.  Considerable 
sacrifices,  however,  have  been  made  to  facilitate  the  construction 
of  the  telegraph  in  that  country.  The  farmers  and  settlers  re- 
siding along  the  line  are  allowed  the  use  of  the  telegraph  for 
their  own  purposes,  as  a  compensation  to  them  for  watching  the 
wires  and  repairing  them  when  necessary,  for  which  purpose 
they  are  furnished  with  the  requisite  tools  and  instructions.  In 
this  way  an  entire  population,  among  whom  the  telegraph  passes, 
are  interested  in  its  preservation. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

INLAND  TRANSPORT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

No  quarter  of  the  globe  presents  a  natural  apparatus  of  in- 
ternal communication  so  stupendous  as  that  which  the  European 
settlers  found  at  their  disposal  on  the  North  American  continent. 

This  immense  tract,  included  between  the  Atlantic  and  the 
Rocky  Mountains  on  the  east  and  west,  the  great  chain  of  lakes 
extending  from  Lake  Superior  to  Lake  Ontario  on  the  north, 
and  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  on  the  south,  is  divided  into  two  districts 
by  the  ridge  of  the  Alleghanies,  which  traverses  it  in  a  direction 
north  and  south.  The  western  division  consists  of  the  vast  valley 
drained  by  the  Mississippi  and  its  tributaries,  a  territory  greater 
in  superficial  extent  than  Western  Europe.  The  eastern  district 
consists  of  that  portion  between  the  Alleghany  ridge  and  the 


CHAP.  XVI.]     INLAND  TRANSPORT  IN  THE  U.  STATES.      309 

Atlantic,  falling  toward  the  ocean  and  drained  by  innumerable 
rivers,  navigable  for  vessels  of  greater  or  less  burden,  and 
running  generally  eastward. 

Provided  with  such  means  of  water  communication,  it  might 
have  been  expected  that  a  population  thinly  scattered  over  an 
area  so  extensive,  and  engrossed  by  the  exigencies  of  incipient 
agriculture,  would  have  continued  for  ages  contented  with  means 
of  transport  afforded  them  on  so  vast  a  scale,  without  having 
recourse  to  the  resources  of  art. 

It  is,  however,  the  character  of  man,  and  more  especially  of 
Anglo-Saxon  man,  never  to  rest  satisfied  until  he  renders  the 
gifts  of  nature,  however  munificent,  ten  times  more  fruitful  by 
his  industry  and  skill ;  and  it  will  be  presently  seen  to  what  a 
prodigious  extent  the  enterprise  of  the  population  of  the  United 
States  has  improved  these  means  of  inland  transport. 

CANAL    NAVIGATION. 

The  spectacle  of  a  machinery  of  commerce  so  imposing  in 
magnitude  and  power,  and  so  remarkably  co-extensive  with 
the  vastness,  the  fertility,  and  the  mineral  wealth  of  the  terri- 
tory of  which  this  emigrant  people  found  themselves  possessors, 
only  provoked  their  ambition  to  rival  the  enterprise  of  the 
parent  country,  and  to  import  and  naturalize  its  improvements 
and  its  arts.  Their  independence  was  scarcely  established  be- 
fore the  same  resources  of  arts  and  science  which  ages  had  not 
been  more  than  sufficient  to  develop  in  Britain  were  invoked ; 
and  a  system  of  artificial  communication  was  undertaken,  and 
finally  executed,  on  the  new  continent,  for  which,  all  things 
considered,  there  is  no  parallel  in  the  history  of  civilization. 

Immediately  after  the  acknowledgment  of  the  independence 
of  the  American  colonies  by  England,  in  1783,  several  com- 
panies were  formed  in  the  two  principal  states  of  the  Union, 
those  of  New  York  and  Pennsylvania,  for  the  purpose  of  con- 
structing a  system  of  canals.  These  enterprises  were  accord- 
ingly commenced,  but  on  a  scale  too  limited  for  the  attainment 
of  the  ultimate  objects ;  and  as  the  United  States  advanced  in 
commercial  prosperity,  more  extensive  plans  were  adopted.  In 
1807  the  senate  charged  the  Secretary  of  State,  Mr.  Gallatin, 
to  prepare  a  project  for  a  general  system  of  intercommunication 
by  canals,  based  upon  the  geographical  character  of  the  territory 
of  the  Union. 

A  system  of  artificial  water  communication  was  accordingly 


310  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XVI. 

projected,  which,  with  some  modifications  was  at  a  later  period 
adopted  and  carried  into  execution. 

These  projects,  however,  suffered  an  interruption  from  the 
renewal  of  the  war  in  1812;  and  it  was  not  until  five  years  later 
that  the  vast  works  were  commenced,  the  result  of  which  has 
been  a  system  of  inland  navigation  which  is  without  a  rival  in 
any  country  in  the  world. 

On  the  anniversary  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  cele- 
brated the  4th  July,  1817,  the  commencement  of  the  great  line 
of  canal  connecting  the  Hudson  with  Lake  Erie  was  inaugu- 
rated. The  river  Hudson  presented  a  navigable  communication 
for  vessels  of  a  large  class  from  New  York  to  Albany.  The 
object  of  this  line  of  canal  was  to  open  a  water  communication 
between  Albany  and  the  northern  lakes,  so  as  to  connect,  by 
continuous  water  communication,  the  Northwestern  States 
with  the  Atlantic. 

In  less  than  eight  years  this  work  was  accomplished  by  the 
state  of  New  York,  with  its  exclusive  resources. 

That  state  alone  executed  and  brought  into  operation  the 
largest  canal  in  the  world.  As  first  constructed,  the  Erie  canal, 
with  its  branches,  cost  .£2,600,000  sterling ;  but  its  magnitude 
and  proportions  being  still  found  inadequate  to  the  exigencies 
of  a  continually  increasing  traffic,  its  enlargement  was  decided 
upon  in  1835,  and  about  five  years  ago  it  was  finally  completed, 
at  a  cost  of  upward  of  665,000,000  sterling.  The  total  length 
of  this  canal  is  363  miles,  and  its  cost  of  construction  per  mile 
was  therefore  about  d£13,700. 

Meanwhile  the  other  states  of  the  Union  did  not  remain  in- 
active. Pennsylvania  especially  rivaled  New  York  in  these 
enterprises,  and  became  intersected  with  canals  in  all  direc- 
tions. In  short,  these  works  were  undertaken  to  a  greater  or 
less  extent  in  most  of  the  Atlantic  and  some  of  the  Western 
States;  and  the  American  Union  now  possesses  a  sytem  of 
internal  artificial  water  comunication  amounting  to  nearly  4500 
miles,  executed  with  a  degree  of  skill  and  perfection  rarely 
surpassed  by  any  similar  works  constructed  in  the  states  of 
Europe. 

According  to  M.  Michel  Chevalier,  whose  work  on  this  sub- 
ject supplies  most  voluminous  and  valuable  details,*  the  extent 

*  "  Histoire  et  Description  des  Voies  de  Communication  aux  Etats 
Unis,  et  des  Travaux  d'Art  qui  en  dependent,"  par  Michel  Chevalier  ; 
Paris,  1840-1843. 


CHAP.  XVI.]    INLAND  TRANSPORT  IN  THE  U.  STATES.       311 

of  canals  which  were  in  operation  in  the  United  States  on 
January  1,  1843,  was  4333  miles.  There  was  a  further  ex- 
tent projected,  but  not  executed,  amounting  to  2359  miles. 

The  total  cost  of  executing  the  canals  which  were  completed 
was,  according  to  M.  Chevalier,  <£27,870,964,  being  at  the 
average  rate  of  <£6,432  per  mile. 

If  that  portion  remaining  to  be  constructed  could  be  executed 
at  the  same  rate,  its  cost  would  be  .£15,173,088. 

This  extent  of  artificial  water  communication,  compared 
with  the  population,  exhibits,  in  a  striking  point  of  view,  the 
activity  and  enterprise  which  characterize  the  American  people. 

It  appears,  from  what  has  been  stated,  that  in  the  United 
States,  the  population  of  which,  according  to  the  census  of 
1840,  was  17,069,493,  there  was  one  mile  of  canal  navigation 
for  3,939  inhabitants.  Now,  in  the  United  Kingdom,  there  are 
only  3000  miles  of  canal  navigation.  The  population,  according 
to  the  census  of  1840,  was  twenty-seven  millions.  There  is, 
therefore,  only  one  mile  of  canal  to  every  9000  inhabitants. 
The  extent  of  canal  navigation,  therefore,  in  America,  bears  a 
proportion  to  the  population  greater  than  in  the  United  King- 
dom, in  the  ratio  of  9  to  4. 

In  France,  the  entire  length  of  canal  navigation  is  2700  miles, 
with  a  population  of  thirty-five  millions.  There  is,  therefore, 
one  mile  of  canal  for  every  12,962  inhabitants.  The  canal 
navigation,  therefore,  iq  France,  bears  a  less  proportion  to  its 
population  than  in  the  United  States,  in  the  ratio  of  13  to  4, 
very  nearly. 


RIVER    NAVIGATION. 

The  river  navigation  of  the  United  States  is  on  a  scale  com- 
mensurate with  the  extent  of  their  territory.  The  division  of 
the  country  east  of  the  Alleghanies,  forming  the  Atlantic  States, 
is  drained  by  a  vast  number  of  rivers,  of  the  first  and  second 
class,  all  navigable  for  vessels  of  considerable  burden,  the  prin- 
cipal of  which  are  the  Hudson,  the  Delaware,  the  Susque- 
hanna,  the  Connecticut,  the  Potomac,  the  James,  the  Roanoke, 
the  Savannah,  and,  to  the  southward,  the  Altamaha  and  the 
Alabama. 

The  western  division  is  drained  by  the  Mississippi  and  its 
hundred  tributaries,  navigable  for  vessels  of  great  tonnage  for 
several  thousands  of  miles. 


312  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XVI. 

Besides  the  internal  communication  supplied  by  rivers,  prop- 
erly so  called,  a  vast  apparatus  of  water  transport  is  derived 
from  the  geographical  character  of  the  extensive  coast,  stretch- 
ing for  about  four  thousand  miles,  from  the  Gulf  of  St.  Law- 
rence to  the  delta  of  the  Mississippi,  indented  and  serrated  in 
every  part  with  natural  harbors  and  sheltered  bays,  fringed 
with  islands,  forming  sounds,  throwing  out  capes  and  promon- 
tories, which  inclose  arms  of  the  sea,  in  which  the  waters  afe 
free  from  the  roll  of  the  ocean,  and  which,  for  all  the  purposes 
of  internal  navigation,  have  the  character  of  rivers  and  lakes. 
The  lines  of  communication,  formed  by  the  vast  and  numerous 
rivers,  are  completed  in  the  interior  by  chains  of  lakes,  pre- 
senting the  most  extensive  bodies  of  fresh  water  in  the  known 
world. 

Whatever  may  be  the  dispute  maintained  among  the  histo- 
rians of  art  as  to  the  conflicting  claims  for  the  invention  of 
steam  navigation,  it  is  an  incontestible  fact  that  the  first  steam- 
boat practically  exhibited  for  any  useful  purpose,  was  placed  on 
the  Hudson,  to  ply  between  New  York  and  Albany,  in  the  be- 
ginning of  the  year  1808.  From  that  time  to  the  present,  this 
river  has  been  the  theatre  of  the  most  remarkable  series  of 
experiments  on  locomotion  on  water  ever  recorded  in  the 
history  of  man. 

The  Hudson  rises  near  Lake  Champlain,  the  easternmost 
of  the  great  chain  of  lakes  or  inland  seas  which  extend  from 
east  to  west  across  the  northern  boundary  of  the  United  States. 
The  river  follows  nearly  a  straight  course  southward  for  two 
hundred  and  fifty  miles,  and  empties  itself  into  the  sea  at  New 
York.  The  influence  of  the  tide  is  felt  as  far  as  Albany,  above 
which  the  stream  begins  to  contract.  Although  this  river,  in 
magnitude  and  extent,  is  by  no  means  equal  to  several  others 
which  intersect  the  States,  it  is  nevertheless  rendered  an  ob- 
ject of  great  interest  by  reason  of  the  importance  and  extent 
of  its  trade.  The  produce  of  the  state  of  New  York,  and  that 
of  the  banks  of  the  lakes  Ontario  and  Erie,  are  transported  by 
it  to  the  city ;  and  one  of  the  most  extensive  and  populous  dis- 
tricts of  the  United  States  is  supplied  with  the  necessary  im- 
ports by  its  waters.  A  large  fleet  of  vessels  is  constantly  en- 
gaged in  its  navigation  ;  nor  is  the  tardy  but  picturesque  sailing 
vessel  as  yet  excluded  by  the  more  rapid  steamer.  The  cur- 
rent of  the  Hudson  is  said  to  average  nearly  three  miles  an 
hour;  but  as  the  ebb  and  flow  of  the  tide  are- felt  as  far  as 
Albany,  the  passage  of  the  steamers  between  that  place  and 


CHAP.  XVI.]     INLAND  TRANSPORT  IN  THE  U.  STATES.      313 

New  York  may  be  regarded  as  equally  affected  by  currents  in 
both  directions.  The  passage,  therefore,  whether  in  ascending 
or  descending  the  river,  is  made  in  the  same  time. 

This  river  is  navigable  by  steamers  of  a  large  class  as  far  as 
Albany,  nearly  150  miles  above  New  York. 

Attempts  have  been  made,  but  hitherto  without  much  success, 
to  push  the  navigation  a  few  miles  higher,  as  far  as  the  import- 
ant town  of  Troy.  The  impediments  arising  however  from  the 
shallowness  of  the  river  appear  to  be  so  serious,  that  Albany 
lias  continued,  and  probably  will  continue,  to  be  the  limit  of 
steam  navigation  in  this  direction. 

The  steam  navigation  of  the  Hudson  is  entitled  to  attention, 
not  only  because  of  the  immense  traffic  of  which  it  is  the 
vehicle,  but  because  it  forms  a  sort  of  model  for  most  of  the 
the  rivers  of  the  Atlantic  states.  This  navigation  is  conducted, 
as  will  be  seen,  in  a  manner  and  on  a  principle  altogether 
different  from  that  which  prevails  on  the  Mississippi  and  its 
tributaries. 

In  the  steam-vessels  used  on  these  rivers,  no  other  strength 
or  stability  is  required  than  is  sufficient  to  enable  them  to  float 
and  bear  a  progressive  motion  through  the  water.  Not  having 
to  encounter  the  agitated  surface  of  an  open  sea,  they  are 
supplied  with  neither  rigging  nor  sails,  and  are  built  exclusively 
with  a  view  to  speed.  Compared  with  sea-going  steamers, 
they  are  slender  and  weak  in  their  structure,  with  great 
length  in  proportion  to  their  beam,  and  a  very  small  draft  of 
water. 

The  position  and  form  of  the  machinery  are  affected  by 
these  circumstances.  Without  the  necessity  of  being  protected 
from  a  rough  sea,  the  engines  are  placed  on  the.  deck  in  a  com- 
paratively elevated  situation.  The  cylinders  of  large  diameter 
and  short-stroke,  almost  invariably  used  in  sea-going  ships,  are 
rejected  in  these  river  boats,  and  the  proportions  are  reversed 
— a  comparatively  small  diameter  and  a  stroke  of  great  length 
being  adopted.  It  is  but  rarely  that  two  engines  are  used.  A 
single  engine,  placed  in  the  centre  of  the  deck,  drives  a  crank 
placed  on  tho  axle  of  the  enormous  paddle-wheels.  The  great 
magnitude  of  these  latter,  and  the  velocity  imparted  to  them, 
enable  them  to  perform  the  office  of  fly-wheels,  and  to  carry 
tho  engine  through  its  dead  points  with  but  little  perceptiblo 
inequality  of  motion.  The  length  of  stroke  adopted  in  thesp 
engines  supplies  the  means  of  using  the  expansive  principle 
\vilh  great  oiled. 

O 


314 


RAILWAY  ECONOMY. 


[CHAP.  XVI. 


The  steamers  which  navigate  the  Hudson  are  vessels  of  great 
magnitude,  splendidly  fitted  up  for  the  accommodation  of  pas- 
sengers ;  and  this  magnitude  and  splendor  of  accommodation 
have  been  continually  augmented  from  year  to  year  to  the 
present  time. 

In  the  following  table  I  have  given  the  dimensions  of  nine 
steamers  which  were  worked  on  the  Hudson  previously  to 
1838: 


1 

1 

1 

1 

| 

I 

1 

1 

1 

|i 

Names. 

| 

•s 

£ 

r 

•- 

•8 

'- 

If 

r.  1 

1 

1 

K 

1 
| 

I 

1 

1 

S 
I 

5 

1 

1" 
K 

ij 

Ft. 

F(. 

Ft. 

Ft. 

Ft. 

In. 

In. 

Ft. 

De  Wit  Clinton 

•>'(i| 

28 

5-5 

21 

13-7 

30 

65 

II) 

29 

a 

Champlain  

1HI 

27 

55 

15 

34 

44 

10 

27-5 

I 

Erie 

27 

5'5 

22 

15 

44 

II) 

27'5 

North  America 

•JOO 

30 

5 

21 

13 

30 

44-5 

8 

24 

7 

Independence  . 

148 

44 

10 

Albany  

-Jl\! 

26 

24-5 

14 

30 

65 

19 

Swallow  

22-5 

3-75 

24 

11 

30 

46 

27 

Rochester  

•jlld 

25 

3-75 

23-5 

10 

24 

43 

in 

28 

Utica 

•'00 

21 

3-5 

22 

9-5 

24 

39 

10 

Providence.  .  .. 

ISO 

27 

9 

65 

10 

Lexington  
Narragansett  .  . 

207 
-Jilt 

21 
20 

5 

23 
25 

'6 

11 

30 
30 

48 
60 

11 

12 

24 

i 

Massachusetts. 

-Jill) 

29-5 

8-5 

22 

10 

28 

2 

44 

8 

26 

Rhode  Island.. 

•lio 

26 

6-5 

24 

11 

30 

1 

60 

II 

21 

L    . 

Within  the  last  ten  years  considerable  changes  have  been 
made  in  the  proportion  and  dimensions  of  the  vessels  navigating 
this  river ;  all  these  changes  having  a  tendency  to  augment 
their  magnitude  and  power,  to  diminish  their  draft  of  water, 
and  to  increase  the  play  of  the  expansive  principle.  Increased 
length  and  beam  have  been  resorted  to  with  great  success. 
Vessels  of  the  largest  classs  now  draw  only  as  much  water  as 
the  smallest  drew  a  few  years  ago  :  4ft.  Gin.  is  now  regarded 
as  the  maximum.  In  the  following  table  I  have  exhibited  the 
dimensions  and  other  pai'ticulars  of  nine  of  the  most  efficient 
and  most  recently  built  steamers  plying  on  the  Hudson  and  its 
collateral  streams ;  and  by  a  comparison  of  this  with  the  former 
table,  it  will  be  seen  to  what  an  extent  the  dimensions  and  effi- 
ciency of  these  vessels  have  been  increased. 


CHAP.  XVI.]    INLAND  TRANSPORT  IN  THE  U.  STATES.        315 


Dimensions  of  Vessel. 

Engine. 

Paddle-whe« 

Name  of  Vessel. 

fl 

, 

1 
H 

1 

|| 

*j 

Jj 

| 

*, 

—  ^ 

! 

« 

1 

H 

If 

|! 

11 

P 

s 

& 

P 

Isaac  Newton  

333 

ft-  in. 

40  4 

ft.  in. 

10  0 

In. 
81 

"12 

18*. 

-390- 

{2  4' 

32 

Bay  State  

;{(M) 

39  0 

13  2 

76 

12 

2U 

38  0 

10  3 

32 

Empire  State  

304 

39  0 

13  6 

76 

12 

21  1 

38  0 

10  3 

33 

Oregon  

305 

35  0 

72 

Jl 

Is 

34  0 

11  0 

28 

Hendrik  Hudson  .   . 

35  0 

96 

10oO 

72 

11 

33  0 

11  0 

33 

C.  Vanderbilt  

300 

35  0 

11  0 

1075 

72 

12 

21 

35  0 

9  0 

33 

Connecticut  

300 

37  0 

11  0 

72 

13 

21 

35  0 

11  6 

36 

Commodore  

220 

33  0 

10  6 

65 

11 

2- 

31  6 

9  0 

33 

New  World  

376 

35  0 

10  0 

76 

15 

18 

44  6 

12  0 

36 

Alida  

286 

28  0 

9  6 

56 

12 

24J 

32  0 

10  0 

32 

It  is  not  only  in  dimensions  that  these  vessels  have  under- 
gone improvements.  The  exhibition  of  the  beautifully  finished 
machinery  of  the  English  Atlantic  steamers  did  not  fail  to  excite 
the  emulation  of  the  American  engineers  and  steam-boat  pro- 
prietors, who  ceased  to  be  content  with  the  comparatively  rude 
though  efficient  structure  of  the  mechanism  of  their  steam-boats. 
All  the  vessels  more  recently  constructed  are  accordingly  fin- 
ished and  even  decorated  in  the  most  luxurious  manner.  In 
respect  of  the  accommodations  which  they  afford  to  passengers, 
no  water  communication  in  any  country  in  the  world  can  com- 
pare with  them.  Nothing  can  exceed  the  splendor  and  luxury 
of  the  furniture.  Silk,  velvet,  and  the  most  expensive  carpet- 
ing, mirrors  of  immense  magnitude,  gilding  and  carving,  are 
used  profusely  in  their  decorations.  Even  the  engine-room  in 
some  of  them  is  lined  with  mirrors.  In  the  Alida,  for  example, 
the  end  of  the  room  containing  the  machinery  is  composed  of 
one  large  mirror,  in  which  the  movements  of  the  highly-finished 
machinery  are  reflected. 

All  the  new  and  largest  class  of  steamers,  such  as  the  Isaac 
Newton,  the  Hendrik  Hudson,  the  New  World,  the  Oregon, 
and  the  Alida,  are  capable  of  running  from  twenty  to  twenty- 
two  miles  an  hour,  and  make,  on  an  average,  eighteen  miles  an 
hour  without  the  least  effort.  These  extraordinary  speeds  are 
obtained  usually  by  rendering  the  boilers  capable  of  carrying 
steam  from  forty  to  fifty  pounds  pressure  above  the  atmosphere, 
and  by  urging  the  fires  with  fanners,  worked  by  an  independent 
engine,  by  which  the  furnaces  can  be  forced  to  any  desired  extent. 

It  is  right  to  observe  here  that  this  extreme  increase  of  speed 


316  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XVI. 

is  obtained  at  a  disproportionately  increased  consumption  of  fuel. 
When  the  speed  is  increased,  the  space  through  which  the  ves- 
sel must  be  propelled  per  minute  is  increased  in  the  same  pro- 
portion :  and,  at  the  same  time,  the  resistance  which  the  moving 
power  has  to  overcome  is  augmented  in  the  ratio  of  the  square 
of  the  speed.  Hence,  the  effect  to  be  produced  by  the  moving 
power  per  minute,  is  increased  by  two  causes  :  first,  the  actual 
resistance  which  it  has  to  overcome  is  augmented  in  the  ratio 
of  the  square  of  the  speed ;  and,  secondly,  the  space  through 
which  the  moving  power  has  to  act  against  this  resistance  in 
each  minute  is  increased  in  the  ratio  of  the  speed.  Thus,  the 
total  expenditure  of  moving  power  per  minute  will  be  augment- 
ed in  the  proportion  of  the  cube  of  the  speed. 

Let  us  suppose  the  speed  to  be  increased,  for  example,  from 
eighteen  to  twenty-one  miles  an  hour  :  the  power  to  be  ex- 
pended per  minute  to  produce  this  effect  must  be  increased  in 
the  ratio  of  the  cube  of  18  to  the  cube- of  21,  or,  whai  is  the 
same,  in  the  ratio  of  the  cube  of  6  to  the  cube  of  7,  that  is,  in 
the  ratio  of  216  to  348,  or  as  3  to  5  very  nearly. 

Hence,  if  the  furnaces  could  be  worked  with  equal  economy, 
an  increased  consumption  of  fuel  per  hour  would  be  necessary 
in  the  proportion  of  3  to  5  ;  but  the  waste  incurred  by  urging 
the  blowers  so  as  to  produce  a  sufficiently  vivid  combustion  is  so 
great,  that  it  is  practically  found  that  the  consumption  of  fuel  is 
increased  in  a  much  higher  ratio  than  that  which  results  from 
the  increased  resistance,  and  indeed  in  some  cases  that  the  in- 
crease of  three  or  four  miles  an  hour  on  eighteen  miles  will 
cause  nearly  triple  the  consumption  of  fuel. 

Much  of  the  efficiency  of  these  engines  arises  from  the  appli- 
cation of  the  expansive  principle ;  but  to  this  there  has  been 
hitherto  a  limit,  owing  to  the  inequality  of  the  action  of  the  pis- 
ton when  urged  by  expanding  steam  on  the  crank.  When  the 
steam  is  cut  off  at  less  than  half-stroke,  the  force  of  the  piston 
is  diminished  before  the  termination  of  the  stroke  to  less  than 
one  half  its  original  amount.  This  inequality  is  aggravated  by 
the  relative  position  of  the  crank  and  connecting  rod,  the  lever- 
age diminishing  in  nearly  the  same  proportion  as  the  power  of 
the  piston  diminishes.  On  this  account  it  has  not  been  found 
generally  practicable  to  cut  off  the  steam  at  less  than  half-stroke. 

A  recent  improvement,  invented  by  Captain  Ericsson,  is 
directed  to  remove  this  defect.  The  steam  is  worked  succes- 
sively in  two  cylinders  of  different  magnitudes,  as  in  the  engines 
of  Woolf  and  Ilornblower,  but  without  allowing  the  action  of  the 


CHAP.  XVI.]    INLAND  TRANSPORT  IN  THE  U.  STATES.          317 

first  piston  to  impair  the  effect  of  the  second  ;  and  the  arrange- 
ment of  the  connection  between  the  piston  and  the  crank-shaft 
is  such,  that,  notwithstanding  the  expansion  of  the  steam  to  from 
twenty  to  thirty  times  its  original  volume,  the  action  on  the 
crank  is  more  uniform  than  in  the  common  crank  engine,  even 
when  worked  without  expansion. 

The  effect  of  this  arrangement  is  reported  to  be  a  saving  in 
the  consumption  of  fuel  of  very  large  amount.  A  small  trial 
engine  of  ten-horse  power  is  stated  to  have  been  worked  by  the 
consumption  of  151bs.  of  coal  per  hour,  being  at  the  rate  of  l^lb- 
per  horse  per  hour.* 

It  must  be  observed,  in  relation  to  the  navigation  of  these 
eastern  rivers,  that  the  occurrence  of  explosions  is  almost  un- 
heard of.  During  the  last  ten  years,  not  a  single  catastrophe 
of  that  kind  has  occurred  on  them,  although  cylindrical  boilers 
ten  feet  in  diameter,  and  composed  of  plating  Ts^ths  of  an  inch 
thick,  are  commonly  used  with  steam  of  fifty  pounds  pressure 
above  the  atmosphere. 

It  will  be  seen  by  the  table  given  above,  that  the  paddle- 
wheels  used  on  these  rivers  have  extraordinary  magnitude. 
There  is  nothing  particular  in  their  construction.  The  split 
paddle-board,  which  was  adopted  about  ten  years  since,  has 
been  discontinued,  and  has  given  way  to  the  simple  and  contin- 
uous paddle-board.  These  boards,  however,  are  generally  placed 
alternately  at  greater  and  less  distances  from  the  centre,  some- 
what like  a  break-joint.  Wooden  spokes,  with  cast-iron  centre 
pieces,  are  generally  adopted. 

The  steam  is  universally  worked  with  expansion,  the  valves 
for  its  admission  and  emission  being  moved  independently  of  each 
other.  A  separate  engine  is  generally  provided  for  driving  the 
blowers,  and  a  cylindrical  fan-blower  is  employed  for  each  boiler. 
Some  of  these  blowers  are  ten  feet  in  diameter,  being  driven  by 
a  crank  placed  on  their  axle,  which  receives  its  motion  from  the 
small  independent  engine. 

The  great  power  developed  by  these  river  engines  is  due,  not 

*  I  have  since  received  from  Captain  Ericsson  a  more  exact  report 
of  the  performance  of  the  model  engine  of  ten-horse  power.  It  ap- 
pears that,  in  long-continued  work,  its  average  consumption  of  fuel  is 
251bs.  per  hour,  or  2-51bs.  per  horse  power.  This  is  considered  ex- 
cessive by  the  inventor,  and  ascribed  to  the  small  dimensions  of  the 
engine.  An  engine  of  larger  power  is  now  being  constructed  at  New 
York,  which,  it  is  expected,  will  work  with  much  greater  economy  of 
fuel, 


318  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XVI. 

so  much  to  the  magnitude  of  their  cylinders,  as  the  pressure  of 
steam  used  in  them.  The  New  World,  one  of  the  most  recently 
constructed  boats,  has  a  cylinder  seventy-six  inches  in  diameter, 
and  fifteen  feet  stroke.  The  steam  has  forty  pounds  pressure 
in  the  boiler,  and  is  cut  off  at  half-stroke.  The  wheels,  which 
are  forty-five  feet  in  diameter,  make  sixteen  revolutions  per 
minute.  The  speed  of  the  circumference  of  the  wheel  will, 
therefore  be  twenty-five  miles  an  hour;  so  that,  if  the  speed  of 
the  boat  be  twenty  miles  an  hour,  we  have  the  difference,  five 
miles,  giving  the  relative  movement  of  the  edge  of  the  paddle- 
boards  through  the  water. 

To  ascertain  the  power  developed  by  these  engines,  let  us 
suppose  the  mean  effective  pressure  on  the  piston,  taking  into 
account  the  vacuum  produced  by  the  condenser,  and  supposing 
the  steam  to  be  cut  off  at  half-stroke,  to  be  401bs.  per  square 
inch,  the  area  of  the  piston  being  4536  square  inches,  and  the 
stroke  15  feet;  the  piston  moves  through  30  feet  during  each 
revolution  of  the  wheels;  and  since  16  revolutions  take  place 
per  minute,  we  shall  find  the  effective  force  developed  by  the 
piston  by  multiplying  its  area,  4536,  by  twice  the  length  of  the 
stroke,  which  is  30,  and  by  16,  which  is  the  number  of  revolu- 
tions per  minute.  This  product  multiplied  by  40,  the  number 
of  pounds  effective  pressure  per  square  inch,  gives  87,091, 200  Ibs. 
raised  one  foot  high  per  minute  as  the  power  developed  by  the 
engine.  This  is  equivalent,  according  to  the  ordinary  mode  of 
expressing  steam  power,  to  2640  horse  power. 

Whatever  allowance,  therefore,  may  be  made  for  friction, 
&c.,  it  is  clear  that  the  effective  power  thus  obtained  must  be 
greater  than  any  thing  hitherto  executed  on  water. 

The  increase  of  the  dimensions  of  these  vessels  and  their 
machinery  has  been  attended  with  a  greatly  augmented  econ- 
omy of  fuel. 

On  comparing  the  Hendrik  Hudson,  for  example,  wclh  the 
Troy,  a  vessel  formerly  well  known,  plying  between  New  York 
and  Albany,  it  has  been  found  that  when  the  speed  of  the  former 
is  reduced  to  an  equality  with  that  of  the  latter,  the  trip  between 
New  York  and  Albany  being  performed  in  the  same  time,  the 
former  consumed  thirteen  tons  of  coal  while  the  latter  consumed 
twenty;  yet  the  displacement  of  the  Hendrik  Hudson,  owing 
to  its  increased  dimensions,  is  nearly  twice  that  of  the  Troy. 

The  ease  with  which  these  vessels  of  extraordinary  length 
and  beam  and  small  draft  move  through  the  water  is  very  re- 
markable. The  results  of  their  performance  show  that  the 


CHAP.  XVI.]     INLAND  TRANSPORT  IN  THE  U.  STATES.       319 

resistance  per  square  foot  of  immersed  midship  section  is  not 
perceptibly  increased  by  the  increased  length  of  the  vessel,  and 
the  consequently  augmented  surface  and  friction.  This  anomaly 
has  not  been  explained,  but  it  is  certain  that  the  increased  length 
does  not  diminish  the  effect  of  the  moving  power  in  any  per- 
ceptible degree. 

Practical  evidence  of  the  economy  arising  from  this  increase 
of  power  and  dimensions  is  supplied  by  the  fact  that  the  pi'o- 
prietors  of  the  Hudson  steamboats  reduced  their  tariff  for  pas- 
sengers, as  well  as  for  freight,  as  they  increased  the  size  of  their 


Previously  to  1844,  the  lowest  fare  between  New  York  and 
Albany,  one  hundred  and  forty-five  miles,  was  four  shillings  and 
fourpence  (one  dollar).  At  present  the  fare  is  two  shillings  and 
twopence,  and  for  an  additional  sum  of  the  same  amount  the 
passenger  can  command  the  luxury  of  a  separate  state-room. 
When  the  splendor  and  magnitude  of  the  accommodation  is 
considered,  the  magnificence  of  the  furniture  and  accessories, 
the  cheapness  and  luxuriousness  of  the  table  (each  meal,  sup- 
plied on  the  most  liberal  scale,  costing  only  two  shillings  and 
twopence),  it  will  be  admitted  that  no  similar  example  of  cheap 
locomotion  can  be  found  in  any  part  of  the  world.  Passengers 
may  there  be  transported  in  a  floating  palace,  surrounded  with 
all  the  conveniences  and  luxuries  of  the  most  splendid  hotel,  at 
the  rate  of  twenty  miles  an  hour,  for  less  than  one-sixth  of  a 
penny  per  head  per  mile  ! 

It  is  not  an  uncommon  occurrence,  during  the  summer,  to 
meet  individuals  on  board  these  boats,  who  have  lodged  them- 
selves there  permanently  during  a  certain  part  of  the  season, 
instead  of  establishing  themselves,  as  is  customary,  at  some  of 
the  hotels  in  the  towns  on  the  banks  of  the  river.  Their  daily 
expenses  in  the  boat  are  as  follows : 

*.      d. 

Fare 2       2 

Exclusive  use  of  state-room,  &c 2       2 

Breakfast,  dinner,  and  supper 6       6 

Total  daily  expense  for  board,  lodging,  at-  )    

tendance,  and  traveling  150  miles  at  from  >    10     10 
1 8  to  20  miles  an  hour )    

Such  accommodation  is,  on  the  whole,  more  economical  than 
an  hotel.  The  state-room  is  as  luxuriously  furnished  as  the 
most  handsome  bed-room,  and  is  more  spacious  than  the  room 
in  packet  ships  similarly  designated. 


320  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XVI- 

To  obtain  an  adequate  notion  of  the  form  and  structure  of  one 
of  the  first-class  steamboats  on  the  Hudson,  let  it  be  supposed 
that  a  boat  is  constructed  similar  in  form  to  a  Thames  wherry, 
but  above  three  hundred  feet  long,  and  twenty-five  or  thirty  feet 
wide.  Upon  this,  let  a  platform  of  carpentry  be  laid,  projecting 
several  feet  upon  either  side  of  the  boat,  and  at  stem  and  stern. 
The  appearance  to  the  eye  will  then  be  that  of  an  immense 
raft,  from  two  hundred  and  fifty  to  three  hundred  and  fifty  feet 
long,  and  some  thirty  or  forty  feet  wide.  Upon  this  flooring  let 
us  imagine  an  oblong,  rectangular  wooden  erection,  two  stories 
high,  to  be  raised.  In  the  lower  part  of  the  boat,  and  under  the 
flooring  just  mentioned,  a  long,  narrow  room  is  constructed, 
having  a  series  of  berths  at  either  side,  three  or  four  tiers  high. 
In  the  centre  of  this  flooring  is  usually,  but  not  always,  inclosed 
an  oblong,  rectangular  spac&,  within  which  the  steam  machinery 
is  placed,  and  this  inclosed  space  is  continued  upward  through 
the  structure  raised  on  the  platform,  and  is  intersected  at  a  cer- 
tain height  above  the  platform  by  the  shaft  or  axle  of  the  paddle- 
wheels. 

These  wheels  are  propelled,  generally,  by  a  single  engine, 
but  occasionally,  as  in  European  states,  by  two.  The  paddle- 
wheels  are  usuaHy  of  great  diameter,  varying  from  thirty  to 
forty  feet,  according  to  the  magnitude  of  the  boat.  In  the 
wooden  building  raised  upon  the  platform  already  mentioned,  is 
contained  a  magnificent  saloon  devoted  to  ladies,  and  to  those 
gentlemen  who  accompany  them.  Over  this,  in  the  upper  story, 
is  constructed  a  row  of  small  bedrooms,  each  handsomely  fur- 
nished, which  those  passengers  can  have  who  desire  seclusion^ 
by  paying  a  small  additional  fare. 

The  lower  apartment  is  commonly  used  as  a  dining  or  break- 
fast room. 

In  some  boats,  the  wheels  are  propelled  by  two  engines,  which 
are  placed  on  the  platform  which  overhangs  the  boat  at  either 
side,  each  wheel  being  propelled  by  an  independent  engine  ;  the 
wheels,  in  this  case,  acting  independently  of  each  other,  and 
without  a  common  shaft  or  axle.*  This  leaves  the  entire  space 
in  the  boat,  from  stem  to  stern,  free  from  machinery.  It  is 
impossible  to  describe  the  magnificent  "coup  d'ceil"  which  is 
presented  by  the  immense  apparent  length  when  the  commu- 
nication between  them  is  thrown  open.  Some  of  these  boats, 

*  The  steamboat,  Empire,  which  was  recently  lost  by  collision  with 
another  vessel,  was  thus  constructed. 


OHAP.  XVI.]     INLAND  TRANSPORT  IN  THE  U.  STATES.        321 

as  has  been  already  stated,  are  upward  of  three  hundred  feet 
long,  and  the  uninterrupted  length  of  the  saloons  corresponds 
with  this. 

This  arrangement  of  machinery  is  attended  with  some  prac- 
tical advantages,  one  of  which  is  a  facility  of  turning,  as  the 
wheels,  acting  independently  of  each  other,  may  be  driven  in 
opposite  directions,  one  propelling  forward  and  the  other  back- 
ward, so  that  the  boat  may  be  made  to  turn,  as  it  were,  on  its 
centre.  Although,  from  the  great  width  of  the  Hudson,  no 
great  difficulty  is  encountered  in  turning  the  longest  boat,  yet 
cases  occur  in  which  this  power  of  revolution  is  found  extremely 
advantageous. 

Another  advantage  of  thia  system  is,  that  when  one  of  the 
two  engines  becomes  accidentally  disabled,  the  boat  can  be  pro- 
pelled by  the  other. 

The  general  appearance,  of  the  Hudson  steamers  is  repre- 
sented in  the  annexed  engraving  of  the  "  Iron  Witch." 

No  spectacle  can  be  more  remarkable  than  that  which  the 
Hudson  presents  for  several  miles  above  New  York.  The  skill 
with  which  these  enormous  vessels,  measuring  from  three  to 
four  hundred  feet  in  length,  are  made  to  thrid  their  way  through 
the  crowd  of  shipping,  of  every  description,  moving  over  the 
face  of  these  spacious  rivers,  and  the  rare  occurrence  of  acci- 
dents from  collision,  are  truly  admirable.  In  a  dark  night  these 
boats  run  at  the  top  of  their  speed  through  fleets  of  sailing  ves- 
sels. The  bells  through  which  the  steersman  speaks  to  the 
engineer  scarcely  ever  cease.  Of  these  bells  there  are  several 
of  different  tones,  indicating  the  different  operations  which  the 
engineer  is  commanded  to  make,  such  as  stopping,  starting,  re- 
versing, slackening,  accelerating,  &c.  At  the  slightest  tap  of 
one  of  these  bells,  these  enormous  engines  are  stopped,  or 
started,  or  reversed  by  the  engineer,  as  though  they  were  the 
plaything  of  a  child.  These  vessels,  proceeding  at  sixteen  or 
eighteen  miles  an  hour,  are  propelled  among  the  crowded  ship- 
ping with  so  much  skill  as  almost  to  graze  the  sides,  bows,  or 
sterns  of  the  vessels  among  which  they  pass. 

The  difficulty  attending  these  evolutions  by  a  vessel  such  as 
the  New  World,  for  example,  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  yards 
long  and  twelve  yards  wide,  may  be  easily  imagined ;  and  the 
promptitude  and  certainty  with  which  an  engine  whose  pistons 
are  seventy-six  inches  in  diameter,  and  whose  stroke  is  five  yards 
in  length,  is  governed,  must  be  truly  surprising. 

The  navigation  of  the  other  rivers  of  the  Atlantic  States  differs 


RAILWAY  ECONOMY. 


[CHAP.  XVI. 


CHAP.  XVI.]     INLAND  TRANSPORT  IN  THE  U.  STATES.        323 

in  nothing  from  that  of  the  Hudson  and  its  collateral  branches, 
except  in  the  extent  of  their  traffic  and  the  magnitude  and  power 
of  the  steamers.  The  engines,  in  all  cases,  are  constructed  on 
the  condensing  principle ;  and  although  steam  of  forty  or  fifty 
pounds  above  the  pressure  of  the  atmosphere  is  frequently  used, 
it  is  worked  expansively,  and  a  good  vacuum  is  always  sustained 
behind  the  piston  by  means  of  the  condenser. 

The  steam  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  is  conducted  in  a 
manner  entirely  different  from  that  of  the  Hudson  and  the  East- 
ern rivers.  Every  one  must  be  familiar  with  the  lamentable 
accidents  which  happen  from  time  to  time,  and  the  loss  of  life 
from  explosion  which  continually  takes  place  in  these  regions. 

These  accidents,  instead  of  diminishing  with  the  improvements 
of  art,  appear  rather  to  have  increased.  Engineers,  disregarding 
the  heart-rending  narratives  continually  published,  have  done 
literally  nothing  to  check  the  evil ;  and  it  may  be  almost  said  to 
be  a  disgrace  to  humanity,  that  the  legislature  of  the  Union  has 
not  ere  this  interposed  its  authority  to  check  abuses,  which  are 
productive  of  such  calamities. 

In  a  Mississippi  steam-boat  the  cabins  and  saloons  provided  for 
the  accommodation  of  the  passengers,  though  less  magnificently 
furnished,  are  as  spacious  as  those  already  described  in  the  boats 
on  the  Hudson.  They  are,  however,  erected  on  a  flooring  or 
platform,  six  or  eight  feet  above  the  deck  of  the  vessel.  Upon 
this  deck,  and  in  the  space  under  the  cabins  and  saloons  allotted 
to  the  passengers,  are  placed  the  engines,  which  are  of  the 
coarsest  structure.  They  are  invariably  worked  with  high- 
pressure  steam  without  condensation  ;  and  in  order  to  obtain 
that  effect  which,  in  the  boats  on  the  Hudson,  is  due  to  the  vac- 
uum, the  steam  is  worked  at  an  extraordinary  pre.ssure.  I  have 
myself  frequently  witnessed  boilers  of  the  most  inartificial  con- 
struction worked  with  steam  of  the  full  pressure  of  120  Ibs.  per 
square  inch  ;  but  more  recently  this  pressure  has  been  increased, 
the  ordinary  working  pressure  being  now  150  Ibs.,  and  I  am 
assured,  on  good  authority,  that  it  is  not  unfrequently  raised  to 
even  200  Ibs.  The  boilers  are  cylindrical,  of  large  diameter,  and 
of  the  rudest  kind.  When  returning  flues  are  constructed  in 
them,  the  space  left  is  so  small,  that  the  slightest  variation  in  the 
quantity  of  water  they  contain,  or  in  the  trim  of  the  vessel, 
causes  the  upper  flues  to  be  uncovered,  and  the  intense  action 
of  the  furnace  in  this  case  soon  renders  them  red-hot,  when  a 
frightful  collapse  is  almost  inevitable.  The  red-hot  iron,  no 
longer  able  to  resist  the  intense  pressure,  gives  way,  the  boiler 
explodes,  and  the  scalding  water  is  scattered  in  all  directions, 


324  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XVI. 

often  producing  more  terrible  effects  than  even  the  fragments  of 
the  boiler,  which  are  projected  around  with  destructive  force. 

Another  frequent  cause  of  explosion  in  these  boilers,  is  the 
quantity  of  mud  held  in  suspension  in  the  waters  of  the  Missis- 
sippi below  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri.  As  the  water  in  the 
boiler  is  evaporated,  the  earthy  matter  which  it  held  in  suspen- 
sion remains  behind,  and  accumulates  in  the  boiler,  in  the  bottom 
of  which  it  is  at  length  collected  in  a  thick  stratum.  This  pro- 
duces effects  similar  to  those  which  take  place  in  marine  boilers, 
in  consequence  of  the  deposition  of  salt.  This  earthy  stratum 
collected  within  the  boiler  being  a  non-conductor,  the  heat  pro- 
ceeding from  the  furnace  is  interrupted,  and,  instead  of  being 
absorbed  by  the  water,  is  accumulated  in  the  boiler-plates,  which 
it  ultimately  renders  red-hot.  Being  thus  softened,  they  give 
way,  and  the  boiler  bursts.  The  only  preventative  remedy  of 
this  catastrophe  is,  to  blow  the  water  out  of  the  boiler  from  time 
to  time,  before  a  dangerous  accumulation  of  mud  takes  place,  in 
the  same  manner  as  marine  boilers  are  blown  out  to  prevent  the 
accumulation  of  salt.  The  engine-drivers  and  captains,  howeveT-, 
rarely  attend  to  this  process.  They  are  too  intently  bent  upon 
obtaining  speed,  and,  to  use  their  own  phrase,  '*  going  ahead." 
They  do  not  hesitate  to  endanger  their  own  lives  and  those  of 
the  passengers,  rather  than  allow  themselves  to  be  outrun  by  a 
rival  boat. 

Not  only  the  Mississippi,  but  the  Ohio,  the  Missouri,  the 
Illinois,  the  Red  River,  and,  in  a  word,  all  the  tributaries  of  the 
Father  of  rivers,  are  navigated  for  many  thousands  of  miles  by 
this  description  of  boats,  worked  with  the  same  reckless  disre- 
gard of  human  life. 

The  magnitude  and  splendor  of  these  boats  is  little  if  at  all 
inferior  to  those  of  the  Hudson.  They  are,  however,  constructed 
more  with  a  view  to  the  accommodation  of  freight,  as  they  carry 
down  the  river  large  quantities  of  cotton  and  other  produce,  as 
well  as  passengers,  to  the  port  of  New  Orleans.  Many  of  these 
vessels  are  three  hundred  feet  and  upward  in  length,  and  are 
capable  of  carrying  a  thousand  tons  freight,  and  three  or  four 
hundred  deck  passengers,  besides  the  cabin  passengers.  The 
traffic  in  goods  and  passengers  of  the  entire  extent  of  the  im- 
mense valley  of  the  Mississippi  is  carried  by  these  vessels,  except 
that  portion  which  is  floated  down  by  the  stream  in  a  species  of 
raft  called  flat  boats. 

This  lino  of  steam  navigation  is  continued  up  the  Mississippi, 
branching  east  and  west  along  its  great  tributaries.  The  Ohio 
carries  it  eastward  as  far  as  Pittsburgh  in  Pennsylvania.  A 


CHAP.  XVI.]      INLAND  TRANSPORT  IN  THE  U.  STATES-     325 

canal  connects  the  Ohio  at  Cincinnati  with  Lake  Erie.  The 
navigation  of  the  Upper  Mississippi  is  continued  by  the  Illinois 
river  to  a  port  near  Lake  Michigan,  with  which  it  is  connected 
by  a  canal  extending  to  Chicago,  on  the  western  shore  of  that 
lake.  Here  commences  the  great  chain  of  Lake  steam  naviga- 
tion, which  extends  across  the  northern  division  of  the  States, 
traversing  Lakes  Michigan,  Huron,  Erie,  and  Ontario,  and  being 
continued  along  the  St.  Lawrence  to  Montreal  and  Quebec. 
The  lakes  are  connected  by  canals,  and  the  navigation  is  effected 
by  steam-boats  having  submerged  propellers  at  their  stern,  con- 
structed almost  universally  according  to  the  principle  of  Captain 
Ericsson.  Upward  of  fifty  vessels  propelled  by  this  improved 
method  are  now  (1849)  working  between  Chicago  and  Quebec, 
carrying  grain  and  other  products.  Chicago  is  by  this  means 
converted  into  a  port  of  great  importance.  This  transit  is  further 
facilitated  by  the  improvements  recently  made  in  the  navigation 
of  the  St.  Lawrence. 

By  the  Erie  canal,  connecting  the  lake  of  that  name  with  the 
head  of  the  Hudson  navigation  at  Albany,  the  circuit  of  navigaiton 
round  the  United  States  is  completed. 

Notwithstanding  the  facilities  for  coast  navigation  which  are 
offered  along  the  Atlantic  shores  from  New  York  southward, 
successful  efforts  have  been  directed  to  establish  a  parallel  inland 
communication  by  the  Potomac  and  the  Hudson.  A  line  of 
inland  steamers,  also  driven  by  Ericsson's  propellers,  are  estab- 
lished between  the  Potomac  and  New  York  by  Chesapeake  Bay, 
the  Delaware,  the  Chesapeake  and  Delaware  canal,  the  Dela- 
ware and  Raritan  canal,  and  the  Raritan  river,  and  by  these 
means  the  same  line  of  communication  is  extended  to  the  shores 
of  New  England  and  Long  Island  Sound. 

A  project  is  introduced,  and  likely  to  be  carried  into  effect, 
for  enlarging  the  Great  Erie  canal,  so  as  to  admit  of  steamers 
impelled  by  the  same  means.  When  this  shall  be  effected,  the 
entire  extent  of  the  States,  from  Washington,  by  New  York, 
Albany,  the  great  Northern  Lakes,  and  the  Mississippi,  to  New 
Orleans,  will  be  surrounded  by  a  continuous  chain  of  inland  steam 
navigation.  The  importance  of  this  internal  communication  in 
the  event  of  a  war  must  he  apparent. 

Although  the  limits  of  the  subject  of  this  work  would  naturally 
confine  it  to  inland  communication,  it  will  not  be  without  interest 
to  exhibit  here  the  particulars  of  some  of  the  steam-vessels 
intended  for  sea  navigation.  I  have  accordingly  given,  in  the 
following  table,  the  dimensions  of  some  of  those  which  have  been 
most  recently  constructed,  or  are  in  process  of  construction : 


326 


RAILWAY  ECONOMY. 


[CHAP.  XVI. 


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CHAP.  XVI.]    INLAND  TRANSPORT  IN  THE  U.  STATES.       327 
RAILWAYS. 

The  phenomena  of  transport  so  unexpectedly  developed  on 
the  opening  of  the  Liverpool  and  Manchester  Railway,  and  the 
miracles  of  swift  locomotion  there  exhibited,  had  no  sooner  been 
announced,  than  the  Americans,  with  their  usual  ardor,  resolved 
to  import  this  great  improvement ;  and  projects  of  passenger 
railways,  on  the  vast  scale  which  characterizes  all  their  enter- 
prises, were  immediately  put  forth. 

Some  lines  of  railway  in  isolated  positions,  around  coal  works 
and  manufactories,  had  been,  as  in  England,  already  for  some 
years  in  operation.  It  was  not,  however,  until  after  1830  that 
the  railway  system  began  to  assume  in  America  the  character 
which  it  had  already  taken  in  England.  A  few  years  were  suf- 
ficient to  bring  it  into  practical  operation  in  several  parts  of  New 
England  and  in  the  State  of  New  York;  and  once  commenced, 
its  progress  was  extremely  rapid.  A  system  nearly  9000  miles 
in  length  of  railway  in  different  parts  of  the  Union  was  projected. 
A  great  portion  of  this,  however,  has  not  yet  been  brought  into 
operation,  and  a  part  not  even  commenced.  The  total  length 
of  railways  now  in  actual  operation,  exclusive  of  some  lines 
about  the  mining  districts  and  private  establishments,  amounts 
to  something  more  than  6000  miles.  More  than  4000  miles  of 
these  were  in  operation  as  early  as  1843,  before  England  or  any 
other  country  of  Europe  possessed  railway  communication  at  all 
approaching  to  the  same  extent. 

As  might  naturally  have  been  expected,  the  chief  theatre  of 
railway  enterprise  has  been  the  Atlantic  States.  The  Missis- 
sippi and  its  immense  tributaries  serve  the  purposes  of  commerce 
and  intercommunication  for  the  Western  States  so  efficiently, 
and  the  population  is  comparatively  so- thinly  spread  6"ver  them, 
that  many  years  will  probably  pass  away  before  any  considerable 
extent  of  railway  communication  will  be  established  in  that  vast 
territory.  Nevertheless,  there  are  detached  examples  of  rail- 
ways serving  local  purposes  in  different  parts  of  the  Mississippi 
valley.  Thus  there  are  in  the  State  of  Mississippi  five  short 
railways ;  in  Louisiana  ten  ;  a  few  in  Florida,  Alabama,  Illinois, 
Michigan,  Indiana,  and  Ohio.  These  are,  however,  detached 
and  single,  and  form  nothing  approaching  to  a  system.  They 
are  generally  constructed  to  connect  populous  towns  with  the 
nearest  adjacent  navigable  rivers. 

To  the  traveler  in  these  wilds,  the  aspect  of  such  artificial  lines 
of  transport  in  the  midst  of  a  country  a  great  portion  of  which  is 


328  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XVI. 

still  in  the  state  of  native  forest  is  most  remarkable,  and  strongly 
characteristic  of  the  irrepressible  spirit  of  enterprise  of  its  pop- 
ulation. Traveling  in  the  back  woods  of  Mississippi,  through  na- 
tive forests  where,  till  within  a  few  years,  human  foot  never  trod, 
through  solitudes  the  stillness  of  which  was  never  broken  even  by 
the  red  man,  I  have  been  filled  with  wonder  to  find  myself  drawn 
on  a  railway  by  an  engine  driven  by  an  artisan  from  Liverpool, 
and  whirled  at  the  rate  of  twenty  miles  an  hour  by  the  highest 
refinements  of  the  art  of  locomotion.  It  is  not  easy  to  describe 
the  impression  produced  as  one  sees  the  frightened  deer  start 
from  its  lair  at  the  snorting  of  the  ponderous  machine  and  the 
appearance  of  the  snake-like  train  which  follows  it,  and  when 
one  reflects  on  all  that  man  has  accomplished  within  half  a  cen- 
tury in  this  region. 

Of  the  total  length  of  railways  which  overspread  the  territory 
of  the  Union,  more  than  the  half  are  constructed  in  the  States 
of  Pennsylvania,  New  York,  and  those  of  New  England.  The 
principal  centres  from  which  these  lines  of  communication 
diverge  are  Boston,  New  York,  and  Philadelphia. 

A  considerable  extent,  though  of  less  importance,  diverges 
from  Baltimore ;  and  recently  lines  of  communication  of  great 
length  have  been  constructed,  from  Charleston  in  South  Carolina, 
and  from  Savannah  in  Georgia. 

From  Boston  three  trunk  lines  issue ;  the  chief  of  which 
passes  through  the  State  of  Massachusetts  to  Albany,  on  the 
Hudson.  This  line  of  railway  is  two  hundred  miles  in  length, 
and  appears  destined  to  carry  a  considerable  traffic.  Its  ramifi- 
cations southward,  through  the  smaller  states  of  New  England, 
are  numerous,  chiefly  leading  to  the  ports  upon  Long  Island 
Sound,  which  communicate  by  steamboats  with  New  York. 
The  first  branch  is  carried  from  Worcester,  in  Massachusetts, 
to  New  London  on  the  Sound,  where  it  meets  a  short  steam 
ferry  which  communicates  with  Greenport,  at  the  eastern  ex- 
tremity of  Long  Island,  from  which  another  railway,  nearly  100 
miles  long,  is  carried  to  Brooklyn,  which  occupies  the  shore  of 
that  island  immediately  opposite  New  York,  and  communicates 
with  the  latter  city  by  a  steam  ferry. 

Thus  there  is  a  continued  railway  communication  from  Boston 
to  New  York,  interrupted  only  by  two  ferries. 

Another  branch  of  the  great  Massachusetts  line  is  carried 
south  from  Springfield,  through  Hartford  to  New  Haven ;  and  a 
third  from  Pittsfield  to  Bridgeport,  both  the  latter  places  being 


CHAP.  XVI.]     INLAND  TRANSPORT  IN  THE  U.  STATES.      329 

on  the  Sound,  and  communicating  with  New  York  by  steam- 
boats. 

The  second  trunk  line  from  Boston  proceeds  southward  to 
Providence,  and  thence  to  Stonington,  from  which  it  communi- 
cates by  a  ferry  with  the  Long  Island  Railway.  This  trunk 
line  throws  off  a  branch  from  Foxburgh  to  New  Bedford,  where 
it  communicates  by  ferries  with  the  group  of  islands  and  prom- 
ontories clustered  round  Cape  Cod. 

A  third  trunk  line  proceeds  from  Boston  through  tho  State  of 
Maine. 

Notwithstanding  the  speed  and  perfection  of  the  steam  navi- 
gation of  the  Hudson,  a  railway  is  now  being  constructed  on  the 
east  side  of  that  river  to  Albany,  which  which  will  be  opened  in 
the  course  of  1850.  The  section  terminating  at  New  York  is 
already  in  operation. 

From  Albany  an  extensive  line  of  railway  communication,  323 
miles  in  length,  is  carried  across  the  entire  State  of  New  York 
to  Buffalo,  at  the  head  of  Lake  Erie,  with  branches  to  some 
important  places  on  the  one  side  and  on  the  other.  This  lino 
forms  the  continuation  of  the  western  railway,  carried  from 
Boston  to  Albany,  and,  combined  with  this  latter,  completes  the 
continuous  railway  communication  from  the  harbor  of  Boston  to 
that  of  Buffalo  on  Lake  Erie,  making  an  entire  length  of  railway 
communication,  from  Boston  to  Buffalo,  of  523  miles. 

The  branches  constructed  from  this  trunk  line  are  not  numer- 
ous. There  is  one  from  Schenectady  to  Troy,  on  the  Hudson, 
and  another  from  Schenectady  to  Saratoga;  another  from  Syra- 
cuse to  Oswego,  on  Lake  Ontario ;  and  another  from  Buffalo  to 
the  falls  of  Niagara,  and  from  thence  to  Lockport. 

Not  content  with  this  fine  line  of  communication  to  the  West- 
ern Lakes,  the  commercial  interests  of  New  York  have  projected, 
and  in  part  constructed,  a  more  direct  route  from  New  York  to 
Buffalo,  independent  of  the  Hudson. 

The  disadvantage  of  this  river  as  a  sole  means  of  communica- 
tion is,  that,  during  a  certain  portion  of  the  winter,  all  traffic 
upon  it  is  suspended  by  frost.  In  this  case,  the  line  of  railway 
communicating  already  from  Bridgeport  and  New  Haven  to  Al- 
bany has  been  resorted  to  by  travelers.  However,  it  may  be 
regarded  as  certain,  that  the  intermediate  traffic  of  the  State  of 
New  York  along  the  direct  line  of  railway  now  in  progress  from 
that  city  to  Buffalo,  will  very  speedily  be  sufficient  for  the  sup- 
port of  an  independent  line  of  railway. 

The  immediate  environs  of  New  York  are  served  by  several 


330  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XVI. 

short  railways,  as  is  usual,  indeed,  in  all  great  capitals  where 
the  railway  system  of  transport  prevails. 

The  line  connecting  that  city  with  Harlem  is  analogous  in 
many  respects  to  the  Greenwich  and  Blackwall  lines  at  London, 
and  the  Versailles  and  St.  Germain  lines  at  Paris.  It  is  sup- 
ported by  a  like  description  of  traffic.  The  New  York  line,  how- 
ever, has  this  peculiarity,  that  it  is  conducted  through  the  streets 
of  the  capital  upon  their  natural  level,  without  either  cutting, 
tunnel,  or  embankment.  The  carriages,  on  entering  the  town, 
are  drawn  by  horses,  four  horses  being  allowed^to  each  coach; 
each  coach  carrying  from  sixty  to  eighty  persons,  and  being  con- 
structed like  the  railway  coaches  in  general  in  the  United  States. 

The  rails  along  the  streets  are  laid  down  in  a  manner  similar 
to  that  which  is  customary  at  places  where  lines  of  railway  in 
England  cross  turnpike  roads  on  a  level.  The  surface  of  the 
rail  is  flush  with  the  pavement,  and  a  cavity  is  left  for  the  flange 
to  sink  in. 

Other  short  railways,  from  New  York  to  Patterson,  Morris- 
town,  and  Somerville,  require  no  particular  note. 

The  great  line  of  railway  already  described,  from  Boston  to 
New  York,  is  continued  southward  from  that  capital  to  Phila- 
delphia. There  are  here  two  rival  lines  ;  one  of  which,  com- 
mencing from  Jersey  city  on  the  Hudson,  opposite  the  southern 
part  of  New  York,  is  carried  to  Bordentown,  on  the  left  bank 
of  the  Delaware,  whence  the  traffic  is  carried  by  steamboats  a 
few  miles  further  to  Philadelphia.  The  rival  line  commences 
from  South  Amboy  in  New  Jersey,  to  which  the  traffic  is 
brought  from  New  York  by  steamers  plying  on  the  Raritan 
river,  which  separates  New  Jersey  from  Staten  Island.  From 
Amboy,  the  railway  is  continued  to  Camden,  on  the  left  bank 
of  the  Delaware  opposite  Philadelphia. 

By  far  the  greater  part  of  the  traffic  between  New  York  and 
Philadelphia  is  carried  by  the  former  line. 

Philadelphia  is  the  next  great  centre  from  which  railways 
diverge.  One  line  is  carried  westward  through  the  State  of 
Pennsylvania,  passing  through  Reading,  and  terminating  at 
Pottsville,  in  the  midst  of  the  great  Pennsylvanian  coal-field. 
There  it  connects  with  a  network  of  small  railways,  serving  the 
coal  and  iron  mines  of  this  locality.  This  line  of  railway  is  a 
descending  line  toward  Philadelphia,  and  serves  the  purposes 
of  the  mining  districts  better  than  a  level.  The  loaded  trains 
descend  usually  with  but  little  effort  to  the  moving  power,  while 
the  empty  wagons  are  drawn  back. 


CHAP.  XVI.]     INLAND  TRANSPORT  IN  THE  U.  STATES.      331 

The  passenger  traffic  is  chiefly  between  Reading  and  Phila- 
delphia. 

Another  line  of  railway  is  carried  westward  through  the  State 
of  Pennsylvania,  passing  through  Lancaster,  Harrisburg,  the 
seat  of  the  legislature,  Carlisle,  and  Chambersburg,  where  it 
approaches  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railway.  The  length  of 
this  railway  from  Philadelphia  to  Chambersburg  is  154  miles. 
The  former,  to  Pottsville  and  Mount  Carbon,  is  108  miles,  the 
section  to  Reading  being  64. 

A  great  line  of  communication  is  established,  400  miles  in 
length,  between  Philadelphia  and  Pittsburg,  on  the  left  bank  of 
the  Ohio,  composed  partly  of  railway  and  partly  of  canal.  The 
section  from  Philadelphia  to  Columbia,  82  miles,  is  railway. 
The  line  is  then  continued  by  canal,  for  172  miles,  to  Holidays- 
burg.  It  is  then  carried  by  railway  37  miles  to  Johnstown, 
from  whence  it  is  continued  104  miles  further  to  Pittsburg  by 
canal. 

The  traffic  on  this  mixed  line  of  transport  is  conducted  so  as 
to  avoid  the  expense  and  inconvenience  of  transhipment  of  goods 
and  passengers  at  the  successive  points  where  the  railway  and 
canals  unite.  The  merchandise  is  loaded,  and  the  passengers 
accommodated  in  the  boats  adapted  to  the  canals,  at  the  dep6t 
in  Market-street,  Philadelphia.  These  boats,  which  are  of 
considerable  magnitude  and  length,  are  divided  into  segments, 
by  partitions  made  transversely  and  at  right  angles  to  their 
length,  so  that  each  boat  can  be,  as  it  were,  broken  into  three  or 
more  pieces.  These  several  pieces  are  placed  each  on  two 
railway  trucks,  which  support  it  at  its  ends,  a  proper  body  being 
provided  for  the  trucks  adapted  to  the  form  of  the  bottom  and 
keel  of  the  boat.  In  this  manner  the  boat  is  carried  in  pieces, 
with  its  load,  along  the  railways.  On  arriving  at  the  canal,  the 
pieces  are  united  so  as  to  form  a  continuous  boat,  which,  being 
launched,  the  transport  is  continued  on  the  water. 

On  arriving  again  at  the  railway,  the  boat  is  once  more  re- 
solved into  its  segments,  which,  as  before,  are  transferred  to  the 
railway  trucks,  and  transported  to  the  next  canal  station  by  loco- 
motive engines. 

Between  the  depot  in  Market-street  and  the  locomotive  sta- 
tion, which  is  situate  in  the  suburbs  of  Philadelphia,  the  seg- 
ments of  the  boats  are  drawn  by  horses,  on  railways  conducted 
through  the  streets.  At  the  locomotive  station  the  trucks  are 
formed  into  a  continuous  train,  and  delivered  over  to  the  loco- 
motive engine. 


332  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XVI. 

As  the  body  of  the  trucks  rests  upon  a  pivot,  under  which 
it  is  supported  by  the  wheels,  it  is  capable  of  revolving,  and  no 
difficulty  is  found  in  turning  the  shortest  curves;  and  these 
enormous  vehicles,  with  their  contents  of  merchandise  and  pas- 
sengers are  seen  daily  issuing  from  the  gates  of  the  depdt  in 
Market-street,  and  turning  without  difficulty  the  corners  at  the 
entrance  of  each  successive  street. 

The  southern  line  of  railway  communication  is  continued  from 
Philadelphia  to  Baltimore,  interrupted  only  by  a  steam  ferry 
over  the  Susquehanna. 

The  management  of  these  steam  ferries  is  deserving  of  notice. 
It  is  generally  so  arranged,  that  the  time  of  crossing  them  cor- 
responds with  a  meal  of  the  passengers.  A  platform  is  con- 
structed, level  with  the  line  of  rails,  and  carried  to  the  water's 
edge.  Upon  this  platform  rails  are  laid,  on  which  the  wagons 
which  bear  the  passengers'  luggage,  and  other  matters  of  light 
and  rapid  transport,  are  rolled  directly  upon  the  upper  deck  of 
the  ferry-boat,  the  passengers  meanwhile  passing  under  a  cov- 
ered way  to  the  lower  deck. 

The  whole  operation  is  accomplished  in  five  minutes.  While 
the  boat  is  crossing  the  spacious  river,  the  passengers  are  sup- 
plied with  their  breakfast,  dinner,  lunch,  or  supper,  as  the  case 
may  be.  On  arriving  at  the  opposite  bank,  the  upper  deck 
comes  into  contact  with  a  like  platform,  bearing  a  railway  upon 
which  the  luggage  wagons  are'rolled.  The  passengers  ascend 
by  a  covered  way,  and,  resuming  their  places  in  the  railway 
carriages,  the  train  proceeds. 

Baltimore  is  the  next  centre  of  railway  movement.  One  line 
issues  northward  to  Harrisburg  in  Pennsylvania,  where  it  unites 
with  the  Philadelphia  and  Chambersburg  line.  A  great  line  of 
western  railway  is  projected  to  be  carried  from  Baltimore  to 
the  left  bank  of  the  Ohio,  to  some  point  near  Wheeling.  This 
line,  however,  is  as  yet  finished  only  so  far  as  Cumberland,  153 
miles.  This  place  is  at  the  foot  of  the  Alleghany  range,  which 
is  crossed  by  the  great  national,  an  excellent  Macadamized  road- 
way, which  continues  the  communication  126  miles  further,  to 
Wheeling,  on  the  Ohio.  The  ascent  is  gradual,  and  constructed 
on  good  engineering  principles. 

The  railway,  when  completed,  will  cross  this  ascent  by  a 
series  of  inclined  planes,  all  of  which  but  one  will  be  worked  by 
locomotive  engines.  This  will  probably  be  worked  by  means  of 
a  stationary  engine.  Nothing,  however,  is  done  as  yet  toward 
the  realization  of  this  part  of  the  project. 


CHAP.  XVI.]    INLAND  TRANSPORT  IN  THE  U.  STATES.      333 

Baltimore  is  connected  with  Washington,  the  seat  of  the  fed- 
eral legislature,  by  an  excellent  line  of  railway,  nearly  forty 
miles  in  length.  From  this  point,  the  great  southern  line  of 
communication  is  continued  by  steam-boats  on  the  Potomac  to 
the  left  bank  of  that  river  near  Fredericksburg,  in  Virginia,  a 
distance  of  about  fifty  miles.  Here  the  line  of  railway  com- 
munication is  resumed  and  continued  through  the  State  of  Vir- 
ginia, passing  through  Richmond  and  Petersburg,  being  con- 
tinued southward  to  Halifax,  on  the  frontiers  of  North  Carolina. 

Another  line  of  communication  southward  is  formed  by  steam- 
boats on  the  Chesapeake,  which  ply  between  Baltimore  and 
Norfolk,  from  which  place  a  line  of  railway  is  carried  to  the 
frontiers  of  North  Carolina,  near  Halifax,  running  into  the  great 
artery  just  mentioned,  at  Weldon.  From  Halifax  the  great 
southern  railway  is  continued  through  North  Carolina  to  Wil- 
mington, a  seaport  near  the  southern  limits  of  that  state. 

Thus  is  completed  so  far  a  continuous  line  of  railway  commu- 
nication running  north  and  south  through  the  Atlantic  States, 
commencing  at  Portland  in  the  State  of  Maine,  passing  success- 
ively through  Boston,  Providence,  New  York,  Philadelphia, 
Baltimore,  Washington,  and  Richmond,  and  terminating  at  Wil- 
mington, the  total  length  of  which  is  nearly  1000  miles.  From 
Wilmington  the  communication  with  Chai'leston  is  maintained 
by  steam-boats,  which  ply  along  the  coast. 

Charleston  in  South  Carolina,  and  Savannah  in  Georgia,  are 
the  points  from  which  other  great  lines  of  railway  communica- 
tion issue  westward.  That  which  proceeds  from  Charleston  is 
carried  across  South  Carolina  to  Augusta,  on  the  confines  of 
Georgia,  throwing  off  a  branch  northward  to  Columbia,  the  cap- 
ital of  the  state. 

The  length  of  the  main  line  to  Augusta  is  134  miles. 

From  Augusta  the  line  of  railway  is  continued  westward 
through  Georgia,  passing  through  Madison  and  Decatur  to  the 
left  bank  of  the  Tennessee  river,  throwing  off  a  branch  to  Athens, 
the  seat  of  the  univei-sity. 

From  Savannah  the  line  of  railway  passes  through  Georgia 
and  Macon,  and  unites  with  the  former  line  at  Decatur. 

These  lines  of  railway  communication  are  continued  westward 
to  the  left  bank  of  the  Alabama  river,  on  which  the  transport  is 
continued  by  steam-boats  to  Mobile,  and  thence  to  New  Orleans, 
and  by  another  line  to  the  Tennessee,  by  which  the  navigation 
is  continued  through  the  Mississippi  valley  to  the  loft  bank  of 
its  great  tributary,  the  Ohio. 


334  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XVI. 

When  the  expenditure  involved  in  the  construction  and  main- 
tenance of  the  railways  of  the  United  Kingdom  is  considered, 
the  financier,  the  statistician,  and  the  economist  will  naturally 
ask  how,  with  a  population  so  sparse  and  a  territory  so  vast,  a 
system  of  communication  so  extensive,  could  be  established  and 
sustained  ?  If  the  great  mass  of  the  passenger  lines  in  England 
have  cost  at  the  rate  of  forty  thousand  pounds  per  mile,  and  the 
profits  gained  even  on  the  most  successful  among  them  do  not 
exceed  seven  per  cent.,  while  the  average  profits  of  all  do  not 
much  exceed  half  that  rate — how,  it  may  be  asked,  can  this  stu- 
pendous system  of  American  railways,  with  a  traffic  compara- 
tively so  insignificant,  among  a  people  where  ,profits  on  capital 
are  high  and  the  rate  of  interest  from  six  to  ten  per  cent.,  be 
made  to  answer. 

This  difficulty  is  explained,  partly  by  the  general  nature  of 
the  country,  partly  by  the  mode  of  constructing  the  railways, 
and  partly  by  the  manner  of  working  them. 

With  certain  exceptions,  few  in  number,  the  tracts  of  country 
over  which  these  railways  pass  form  nearly  a  dead  level.  Of 
earth-work,  therefore,  there  is  but  little.  Occasionally,  low 
embankments  and  shallow  cuttings  are  all  the  difficulties  the  en- 
gineer has  to  surmount.  Of  works  of  art,  such  as  viaducts  and 
tunnels,  there  are  almost  none.  Where  the  lines  have  to  be 
conducted  over  streams  or  rivers,  bridges  are  constructed,  in  a 
rude  but  substantial  and  secure  manner,  of  timber,  which  is  sup- 
plied from  forests  at  the  road-side,  subject  to  no  other  cost  save 
that  of  hewing  it.  The  station-houses,  booking-offices,  and  other 
buildings  are  likewise  slightly  and  cheaply  constructed  of  timber. 

O»  some  of  the  best  lines  the  timber  bridges  are  constructed 
with  stone  piers  and  abutments  supporting  arches  of  truss-work. 
The  cost  of  such  bridges  varies  from  46s.  per  foot  for  60  feet 
span  to  <£6  10s.  per  foot  for  200  feet  span,  for  a  single  line,  the 
cost  for  a  double  line  being  50  per  cent.  more.  This  includes 
the  road  work  and  rails,  but  not  the  masonry  of  the  piers  and 
abutments. 

A  bridge  of  this  kind  is  constructed  on  the  Philadelphia  and 
Reading  Railway,  the  length  of  which  is  1800  feet,  and  the  cost 
of  which  was  d£8600. 

Where  the  railways  strike  the  course  of  rivers  of  great 
breadth,  such  as  the  Hudson,  the  East  River,  the  Delaware, 
the  Susquehannah,  or  the  Potomac,  the  transport  is  continued, 
as  already  explained,  by  steam  ferries. 

But,  besides  the  facilities  afforded  for  the  formation  of  rail- 


CHAP.  XVI.]    INLAND  TRANSPORT  IN  THE  U.  STATES.      335 

ways  by  the  flat  and  level  character  of  the  country,  and  the 
boundless  supply  of  timber  at  a  trifling  cost,  a  further  and  much 
larger  economy  is  effected,  as  compared  with  European  lines, 
by  the  method  of  construction. 

Formed  to  supply  a  very  limited  amount  of  traffic  in  propor- 
tion to  their  length,  the  American  railways  are,  generally,  single 
lines.  Sidings  are  of  course  provided  at  convenient  stations,  in 
which  one  train  waits  until  the  train  in  the  contrary  direction 
has  passed.  Collision  is  impossible,  for  the  first  train  which 
arrives  must,  by  the  rules  of  the  road,  move  into  the  siding. 
This  arrangement  would  be  attended  with  inconvenience,  on 
lines  where  a  frequent  passage  of  trains  takes  place  ;  but  on  the 
principal  American  lines,  the  fast  trains  seldom  pass  in  each 
direction  more  than  twice  a  day,  and  the  time  and  place  of  their 
meeting  is  perfectly  regulated.  In  fact,  no  inconvenience  is  felt 
or  complained  of  from  this  cause  in  the  practical  woi'king  of  the 
lines.  In  cases  where  the  traffic  is  so  considerable  as  to  require 
them,  double  lines  have  been  constructed. 

In  the  structure  of  the  roads  themselves,  principles  have  been 
adopted  which  have  been  attended  with  great  economy  com- 
pared with  European  lines — the  application  of  which  was  ren- 
dered admissible  by  the  lightness  of  the  traffic  and  the  moderate 
speed  contemplated.  In  laying  out  these  lines,  the  engineers 
did  not,  as  in  England,  impose  on  themselves  the  difficult  and 
expensive  condition  of  excluding  all  curves  but  those  of  a  large 
radius.  On  the  other  hand,  curves  having  a  radius  of  one  thou- 
sand feet  are  usual ;  and  occasionally  curves  of  five  hundred  feet, 
and  even  less,  are  allowed.  Nor  are  the  gradients  restricted  to 
the  same  low  limits  as  with  us.  Acclivities  rising  at  the  rate  of 
one  foot  in  a  hundred  and  thirty,  are  considered  a  moderate 
ascent;  and  there  are  not  less  than  fifty  lines  in  which  the 
gradients  are  laid  down  at  a  rate  varying  from  one  in  a  hundred 
to  one  in  seventy-five.  Nevertheless,  these  lines  are  worked 
without  difficulty  by  locomotives,  without  the  expedient  either 
of  assistant  or  stationary  engines.  The  consequences  of  this 
have  been  to  diminish  the  cost  of  earth-work,  bridges,  and  via- 
ducts, even  in  parts  of  the  country  where  the  character  of  the 
surface  is  least  favorable.  But  the  chief  source  of  economy  in 
the  construction  of  these  lines  has  arisen  from  the  structure  of  the 
road  surface.  In  many  cases  where  there  is  a  light  traffic,  the 
rails  consist  of  flat  bars  of  iron  two  and  a  half  inches  broad,  and 
from  five  to  seven  tenths  of  an  inch  thick — nailed  or  spiked  down 
to  planks  of  timber  laid  longitudinally  on  the  road  in  parallel 


336  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XVI. 

lines,  at  the  proper  width,  so  as  to  form  what  are  called  contin- 
uous bearings.  Some  of  the  most  profitable  lines,  and  those  of 
which  the  maintenance  has  proved  the  least  expensive,  have 
been  constructed  in  this  manner. 

The  structure  of  the  road,  however,  varies  in  its  character 
according  to  the  traffic.  Rails  are  sometimes  laid  down  weigh- 
ing from  twenty-five  to  thirty  pounds  per  yard.  In  some  cases 
of  still  greater  traffic,  the  rails  are  laid  on  transverse  sleepers 
of  wood,  in  the  same  manner  as  on  the  European  railways ; 
but,  in  consequence  of  the  comparative  cheapness  of  wood  and 
high  price  of  iron,  the  strength  necessary  for  the  road  is  ob- 
tained by  reducing  the  distance  between  the  sleepers,  so  as  to 
supersede  the  necessity  of  giving  greater  weight  to  the  rails. 

In  all  cases  where  augmented  traffic  may  be  expected  from 
the  increase  of  population  and  commerce,  the  earth-work  and 
structures  on  the  lines  are  made  so  as  to  admit  of  a  double  lino 
of  rails,  whenever  they  may  be  required. 

In  the  working  of  the  railways,  the  same  attention  to  the 
economy  rendered  necessary  by  their  limited  traffic  is  observa- 
ble. The  engines  are  strongly  built,  perfectly  safe,  and  suffi- 
ciently powerful ;  but  they  are  destitute  of  much  of  that  elegance 
of  exterior,  and  luxurious  beauty  of  workmanship,  which  are 
seen  upon  the  British  locomotives.  The  fuel  used  to  work  them 
is  generally  wood.  On  certain  lines,  however,  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  coal-mines — such,  for  example  as  the  Philadelphia  and 
Pottsville  Railway,  which  penetrates  into  the  great  coal-fields 
of  Pennsylvania — coal  is  the  fuel  used.  The  use  of  coke  is 
nowhere  resorted  to.  Its  expense  would  make  it  inadmissible  ; 
and  in  a  country  so  thinly  inhabited,  the  smoke  proceeding  from 
coal  or  wood  is  not  objected  to. 

The  ordinary  speed,  stoppages  included,  is  fourteen  or  fifteen 
miles  an  hour.  Independently  of  other  considerations,  the  light 
structure  of  most  of  the  railways  would  not  allow  of  a  greater 
velocity  without  considerable  danger;  on  some  of  the  better 
constructed  lines,  I  have,  however,  freqently  traveled  at  the 
rate  of  twenty-five  miles  an  hour,  when  at  full  speed.  This  is 
not  uncommon  on  some  of  the  New  England  lines — on  the  rail- 
way from  Baltimore  to  Washington,  and  some  of  the  southern 
lines  ;  as,  for  example,  that  between  Charleston  and  Augusta  in 
Georgia,  the  Columbia  line  in  South  Carolina,  and  the  line  from 
Augusta  to  the  University  of  Athens  in  Georgia. 

Notwithstanding  the  apparently  feeble  and  unsubstantial 
structure  of  suaie  of  the  hues,  accidents  to  paatfeugei1  trains  me 


CHAP.  XVL]     INLAND  TRANSPORT  IN  THE  U.  STATES.      337 

scarcely  ever  heard  of  in  America.  With  an  experience  of 
nearly  twenty  thousand  miles  of  railway  traveling  in  the  United 
States,  I  have  never  encountered  an  accident  of  any  kind,  or 
heard  of  a  fatal  or  injurious  one.  This  security  may  be  ex- 
plained by  the  moderate  speed  of  the  trains,  and  the  absence  of 
a  highly  active  traffic. 

In  some  cases  of  lightly  constructed  roads,  where  the  bars 
spiked  down  on  the  planks  are  not  kept  in  good  order,  an  acci- 
dent, called  (from  its  analogy  to  a  catastrophe  common  on  Amer- 
ican rivers)  snagging,  is  said  sometimes  to  have  happened.  In 
this  case  the  iron  bar,  worn  thin  and  unspiked,  gets  detached 
from  the  plank,  and  as  the  wheels  pass  upon  it,  springs  up  and 
pierces  the  bottom  of  the  carriage,  to  the  great  danger  of  the 
passengers.  I  have,  however,  never  met  with  a  well  authenti- 
cated case  of  this  kind. 

The  form  and  structure  of  the  carriages  is  a  source  of  consid- 
erable economy  in  the  working  of  the  lines.  The  passenger 
carriages  are  not  distinguished,  as  in  Europe,  by  different  modes 
of  providing  for  the  ease  and  comfort  of  the  traveler.  There 
are  no  first,  second,  and  third  classes.  All  are  first  class,  or 
rather  all  are  of  the  same  class.  The  carriage  consists  of  a  long 
body  like  that  of  a  London  omnibus,  but  much  wider,  and  twice 
or  thrice  the  length.  The  doors  of  exit  and  entrance  are  at 
each  end;  a  line  of  windows  being  placed  at  each  side,  similar 
exactly  to  those  of  an  omnibus.  Along  the  centre  of  this  species 
of  caravan  is  an  alley  or  passage,  just  wide  enough  to  allow  one 
person  to  walk  from  end  to  end.  On  either  side  of  this  alley 
are  seats  for  the  passengers,  extending  crossways.  Each  seat 
accommodates  two  persons;  four  sitting  in  each  row,  two  at 
each  side  of  the  alley.  There  are  from  15  to  20  of  these  seats, 
so  that  the  carriage  accommodates  from  60  to  80  passengers. 
In  cold  weather,  a  small  stove  is  placed  near  the  centre  of  the 
carriage,  the  smoke-pipe  of  which  passes  out  through  the  roof; 
and  a  good  lamp  is  placed  at  each  end  for  illumination  during  the 
night.  The  vehicle  is  perfectly  lighted  and  warmed.  The 
seats  are  cushioned  ;  and  their  backs,  consisting  of  a  simple  pad- 
ded board,  about  six  inches  broad,  are  so  supported  that  the  pas- 
senger may  at  his  pleasure  turn  them  either  way,  so  as  to  turn 
his  face  or  his  back  to  the  engine.  For  the  convenience  of  ladies 
who  travel  unaccompanied  by  gentlemen,  or  who  otherwise  de- 
sire to  be  apart,  a  small  room,  appropriately  furnished,  is  some- 
times attached  at  the  end  of  the  carriage,  admission  to  which  is 
forbidden  to  gentlemen. 

P 


338  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XVI. 

It  will  occur  at  once  to  the  engineer,  that  vehicles  of  such 
extraordinary  length  would  require  a  railway  absolutely  straight; 
it  would  be  impossible  to  move  them  through  any  portion  of  a 
line  which  has  sensible  curvature.  Curves  which  would  be 
altogether  inadmissible  on  any  European  line  are  nevertheless 
admitted  in  the  construction  of  American  railways  without  diffi- 
culty or  hesitation,  and  through  these  the  vehicles  just  described 
move  with  the  utmost  facility.  This  is  accomplished  by  a  sim- 
ple and  effectual  arrangement.  Each  end  of  this  oblong  caravan 
is  supported  on  a  small  four-wheeled  railway  truck,  on  which  it 
rests  on  a  pivot ;  exactly  similar  to  the  expedient  by  which  the 
fore-wheels  of  a  carriage  sustain  the  perch.  These  railway 
carriages  have  in  fact  two  perches,  one  at  each  end  ;  but  instead 
of  resting  on  two  wheels,  each  of  them  rests  on  four.  The 
vehicle  has  therefore  the  facility  of  changing  the  direction  ofits 
motion  at  each  end  ;  and  in  moving  through  a  curve,  one  of  the 
trucks  will  be  in  one  part  of  the  curve  while  the  other  is  at 
another — the  length  of  the  body  of  the  carriage  forming  the 
cord  of  the  intermediate  arc !  For  the  purposes  they  are  de- 
signed to  answer,  these  carriages  present  many  advantages. 
The  simplicity  of  the  structure  renders  the  expense  of  their 
construction  incomparably  less  than  that  of  any  class  of  carriage 
on  an  European  railway.  But  a  still  greater  source  of  saving  is 
apparent  in  their  operation.  The  proportion  of  the  dead  weight 
to  the  profitable  load  is  far  less  than  in  the  first  or  second-class 
carriages,  or  even  than  the  third-class  on  the  English  railways. 
It  is  quite  true  that  these  carriages  do  not  offer  to  the  wealthy 
passenger  all  the  luxurious  accommodation  which  he  finds  in  our 
best  first-class  carriages ;  but  they  afford  every  necessary  con- 
venience and  comfort. 

In  several  of  the  principal  American  cities,  the  railways  are 
continued  to  the  very  centre  of  the  town,  following  the  windings 
of  the  streets,  and  turning  without  difficulty  the  sharpest  cor- 
ners. The  locomotive  station  is,  however,  always  in  the  sub- 
urbs. Having  arrived  there,  the  engine  is  detached  from  the 
train,  and  horses  are  yoked  to  the  carriages,  by  which  they 
are  drawn  to  the  passenger  dep6t,  usually  established  at  some 
central  situation.  Four  horses  are  attached  to  each  of  these 
oblong  carriages.  The  sharp  curves  at  the  corners  of  the 
streets  are  turned,  by  causing  the  outer  wheels  of  the  trucks 
to  run  upon  their  flanges,  so  that  they  become  (while  passing 
round  the  curve)  virtually  larger  wheels  than  the  inner  ones. 
I  have  seen,  by  Shis  means,  the  longest  railway  carriages  enter 


CHAP.  XVI.]     INLAND  TRANSPORT  IN  THE  U.  STATES.         339 

the  depdts  in  Philadelphia,  Baltimore,  and  New  York,  with  as 
much  precision  and  facility  as  was  exhibited  by  the  coaches  that 
used  to  enter  the  gateway  of  the  Golden  Cross  or  the  Saracen's 
Head. 

The  paucity  of  official,  or  other  authentic  information  respect- 
ing the  American  railways,  renders  it  difficult  to  discover  with 
precision  either  the  cost  of  constructing  or  working  them  col- 
lectively, or  even  the  actual  length  of  railway  under  traffic.  M. 
Michel  Chevalier  ascertained  from  the  most  authentic  sources, 
that  on  the  1st  of  January,  1843,  the  total  length  projected  was 
9076  miles,  of  which  4235  miles  were  completed  and  under 
traffic. 

Since  that  date,  a  considerable  extent  of  railways  has  been 
completed.  The  following  table,  showing  the  lines  completed 
in  June,  1849,  the  length  to  be  completed,  and  the  expense  of 
construction,  so  far  as  they  could  be  ascertained,  may  be  con- 
sidered as  presenting  the  most  complete  and  authentic  state- 
ment of  the  actual  condition  of  the  railways  of  the  United  States 
which  can  be  supplied  : 


TABULAR  REPORT  of  the  Railways  of  the  United  States,  showing  the 
Extent  of  the  Lines  completed  and  under  Traffic  in  June,  1849  ;  the 
Length  of  Lines  projected  hut  not  completed  ;  the  Cost  of  Construction 
and  Plant,  where  such  Particulars  can  be  ascertained  ;  the  last  Div- 

idends, and  the  average  Prices  of  Shares. 

Name  of  Company.  . 

•o    _ 

"I: 
f| 

1 
1 

Cost  of  Road 
and  Equip- 

Cost 

Drri- 

dends 

Price  of 
Shares. 

Irf 

ij 

1 

ment. 

MUe. 

1848. 

E 

Atlantic  and  St.  Lawrence 

146 

36 

In  progress. 

* 

78  a  81 

Androscoggin  and  Kenne- 

beck 

55 

6 

70 

Albany  and  Schenectady  .  . 

16J 

356.932 

22,222 

15-9 

82 

Auburn  and  Rochester  
Auburn  and  Syracuse  .... 

26 

78 
26 

587,871 
250,197 

9J622 

8 
29-10 

86 
80a81 

Attica  and  Buffalo  

314 

314 

182,514 

5,777 

4  ; 

Alleghany  and  Portage.  .  . 
Albany  and  W.  Stockb.  .. 
Bangor  and  Oldtown..   .. 
Boston  and  Lowell  

36 

111; 

36 

274 

427,711 
447,486 

11,111 
16,266 

I* 

Leased  to 
Western 
Railroad. 

Boston  and  Maine  

743 

5 

791 

793,740 

10,000 

94 

105$ 

Boston  and  Worcester.   .  . 

44$ 

~*J 

66f 

1,033,421 

i.  V,:,.-, 

34 

108£ 

Boston  and  Providence    .  . 

41 

ti.J, 

474 

673,579 

14,177 

64 

91 

Bristol  Branch  

12 

12 

Boston,  Concord,  and  Mon- 

treal 

90 

38 

In  progress. 

Berkshire  

21 

21 

133333 

6,333 

7" 

Buffalo  and  Niagara  

22 

22 

55,643 

2,555 

61-3 

Baltimore  and  Susquehan- 

36 

36 

Beaver  Meadow  

26 

26 

.. 

•  • 

.. 

340 


RAILWAY  ECONOMY. 


[CHAP.  XVI 


Name  of_Company. 

|| 
™ 

11 

1 

ost  of  Road 
and  Equip- 

Jf 

Divi- 
dends 
in 

Price  of 
Shares. 

^£ 

'1 

ii 

1848. 

Baltimore  and  Ohio  

178  > 

A 

£. 

Baltimore  and  Washington 

{ 

2,919,320 

3,844 

40  <;41 

Branch  

31  S 

Calais  and  Baring  

'3 

3 

Concord  

34 

34 

Cheshire  

54 

54 

423,435 

7,846 

72" 

Connecticut  and  Passump. 
Connecticut  River  

115 
50 

•£ 

40 
-52 

4,644 
352,929 

6,777 

g  ' 

85 
971 

Cape  Cod  Branch  
Corning  and  Blossburgh  .  . 

28 

28 
40 

130,470 

4,644 

62 

2ayuga  and  Susquehanna 
Camden  and  Amboy  

281 
61 

} 

281 

Trenton  Branch  

61 

< 

961 

711,111 

7  '  '  'n 

130  a  135 

New  Brunswick  Branch 

29* 

y 

1 

Columbia  

82 

82 

Camden  and  Woodbury  .  . 

9 

9 

Cumberland  Valley  

52 

* 

Carbondale  and  Honesdale 

26 

26 

Chesterfield  

12 

12 

33,333 

3,000 

City  Point  

91 

91 

43,526 

3,535 

Central  of  Georgia  

191 

191 

Central  of  New  Jersey  

63 

36 

Dorchester  and  Milton  

31 

31 

25,283 

7,800 

Detroit  and  Pontiac  

25 

25 

Eastern  
Essex  (Salem  to  Law.)  .  .  . 
Erie  and  Kalamazoo  

54 

224 
33 

!* 

1 

93,683 

4,155 

s" 

99J' 

Fall  River 

42 

42 

254,662 

6  066 

71 

86 

Fitchburg  

491 

65 

56 

654',584 

84 

1124 

Franklin  

22 

63,136 

3',006 

Greensville  and  Roanoke 

21 

' 

21 

Germantown  Branch  

6 

6 

88  a  90 

Gaston  and  Raleigh  

96 

96 

Georgia  (  A  ugusta  to  Attica) 
Harrisburgh  and  Lancaster 

171 
37 

171 
37 

88  a"  90 

Hartford  and  New  Haven 

62 

62 

104  a  105 

Housatonic  

74 

74 

864 

Hudson  and  Berkshire  .  .  . 

314 

18l',996 

5,888 

Hickford  and  Gaston  

21 

21 

Hazleton  and  Lehigh  

1Q 

10 

Jackson  and  Brandon  

13 

13 

Lexington  and  West  Cam- 

bridge   
Lowell  and  Lawrence  
Long  Island  

1 

1 

56,151 
62,944 
483,032 

8,644 
5,033 
4,911 

23  j' 

Lockport  and  Niagara  
Lewiston  

23 
31 

23 
31 

49,111 
7,483 

2,154 
2,288 

Ly  kens  Valley  
Little  Schuylkill  

16 
23 

16 
23 

Louisa 

50 

50 

105  364 

2  107 

Lexington  and  Frankfort.. 
Little  Miami 

29 

84 

29 
at 

lOO^OOO 
336,311 

3,466 
4  000 

MachiasPort  

8 

8 

Morris  and  Essex  

23 

23 

Mauch  Chunk  and  R.  Run 

36 

36 

Mine  Hiil  and  Sc.  Haven.  . 

25 

25 

136" 

Mount  Carbon  

7 

7 

Mount  Carbon  and   Point 

Carbon  

24 

24 

Mill  Creek 

6 

Montgomery     and     West 
Point.... 

67 

67 

CHAP.  XVI.]     INLAND  TRANSPORT  IN  THE  U.  STATES.        341 


•s 

.,• 

I 

Divi- 

Name of  Company. 

I1 

% 

1 

and  Equip- 
ment. 

S. 

dends 
in 
1848. 

Price  of 
Shares. 

Madison  and  Indianapolis 

86 

86 

£. 

A. 

110 

Mad  River  and  Lake  Erie 

102 

102 

Mansfield  and  Sandusky.. 
Michigan  Central  

56 

221 

245",804 

4,378 

Michigan  Southern  
Macon  and  Western 

70 
101 

Mississippi 

30 

Nashua  and  Lowell  

144 

116,680 

8,044 

io 

Northern  (Ogdensburg)  .  .  . 

12 

Unfinished. 

„    (Concord  to  Lebanon) 
New  Bedford  and  Taunton 

69 
20 

110,903 

5,555 

*6 

804 

Norfol'c  County  
New  York  and  New  Haven 

26 

138,108 

5,310 

574 

(14  miles  Harlem  branch) 

62 

90 

New  Haven  Canal  

28 

Norwich  and  Worcester  .  . 

59 

-7 

66 

48(5,184 

7,355 

37 

New  York  and  Harlem.  .  . 

804 

795,458 

9,911 

58A 

New  York  and  Erie  

200 

61  a  62 

New  Jersey  

29 

107  a  108 

Newcastle  and  Frenchtown 

17 

New  Orleans  and  Carrollton 

54 

Old  Colony  
Oswego  and  Syracuse  

37* 

73 

45 
41 

462,423 

10,266 

64 

803 

Portland,  Portsmouth,  and 

Saco  

51 

51 

300,000 

5,866 

G 

964 

Peterborough  and  Shirley 

12 

12 

46,291 

3,844 

Pittsfield  and  New  Adams 
Providence  and  Worcester 

18$ 
434 

434 

99,501 
416,421 

5,333 
9,555 

824 

Providence  and  Stonington 

50 

50 

Patterson  and  Hudson  River 

164 

164 

Philadelphia  and  Trenton 
Philadelphia,  Wilmington, 
and  Baltimore  

97 

97 

1,371,967 

14,666 

ie 

130  a  140 
54 

Philadelphia  City  

6 

6 

Philadelphia,  Germantown, 

and  Norristown  

17 

17 

Philadelphia  and  Reading 
Penn  Township  .   . 

93 

93 

2 

29* 

Petersburg  

59 

•j9 

210,302 

3,564 

Portsmouth  and  Roanoke 

337,586 

4,546 

44 

Point  Hudson,  Jackson,  and 

28 

Rensselaer  and  Saratoga.  . 

25 

25 

155>62 

6,222 

Richmond,  Fredericksburg, 

and  Potomac  

75J 

75J 

327,556 

4,324 

Richmond  and  Petersburg 

22 

22 

194,996 

8,863 

Sullivan  «  

28 

28 

South  Shore  

114 

"i 

56,832 

4,933 

334 

Stony  Brook  

13 

13 

54,8)3 

4,222 

Saratoga  and  Washington 

40 

40 

210,749 

5,2(5(5 

Syracuse  and  Utica  

53 

53 

437,341 

8,235 

Schenectady  and  Troy  .  .  . 
Saratoga  and  Schenectady 

204 

22 

ff 

146,591 
73,564 

7,132 
3,333 

Summit  

2 

2 

Sclmylkill  Valley  

14 

14 

Shamokin  

22  • 

22 

4 

4 

South  Carolina  Main  Stern  ) 

136 

Columbia  Branch    £ 

684 

242 

1,320,817 

5,444 

Camden  Branch      -' 

374 

Sangamon  and  Morgan  .  .  . 

53 

53 

•  • 

342 


RAILWAY  ECONOMY. 


[CHAP.  XVI. 


Name  of  Company. 

¥ 

If 

I 

g 
11 

43! 
6 
4* 
26 
44 
78 
69 

46 

13 
20 

26 
10 

Cost  of  Road 
and  Equip. 

Cost 

Divi- 
dends 

1848. 

Price  of 
Shares. 

Taunton  Branch  
Tonawanda  
Trov  and  Greenbush  
Tuckahoe  James  River  .  .  . 
Tallahasse  and  Port  L  .  .  . 
Tuscuuibia  and  Decatur  .  . 
Utica  and  Schenectady  .  .  . 
Vermontand  Massachusetts 
Vermont  Central  
Yicksburg  and  Clinton  
Western 

t 

78 
69 
121 

45 

67,796 
216,636 
60,806 
15,405 

702,597 

1,772,323 

9,226 

£. 
6,133 
4,977 
10,200 
3,333 

9,000 

15,044 
3,333 

io 

120  a  121 

105 
52 

West  Stockbridge  
Worcester  and  Nashua.  .  . 
Wrightsville,    York,    and 
Gettys  
WhitehavenandWilkes.. 
Williamsport  and  Elmira 

West  Feliciana  
Westchester  and  Potomac 
Wilmington  and  Weldon 

24 
32 

150 
10 

113,203 

3,538 

Western  and  Atlantic  .... 
York  and  Maryland  Line 

Total  length  

100 
21 

6565^* 

4789J 

1M4 

*  The  lengths  of  lines  projected  is  given  in  this  Table  only  so  far  as  they  have  been 
ascertained.  It  will  be  observed  that  in  numerous  cases  lengths  are  given  as  com- 
pleted without  any  corresponding  number  in  the  first  column.  In  such  cases  it  must 
be  understood  that  the  lengths  projected  are  unascertained. 

From  this  table  it  appears,  that  the  total  length  of  the  rail- 
ways completed  and  under  traffic  in  the  United  States  in  the 
present  year  (1849)  is  65G5  miles. 

The  cost  of  construction  and  plant  of  2842  miles  of  these 
is  known,  and  amounts  in  the  aggregate  to  ^£23,104,909,  which 
is  at  the  average  rate  of  <£8129  per  mile. 

If  we  assume  that  the  remainder  of  the  railways  under 
traffic,  amounting  to  3723  miles,  have  cost  the  same  average 
sum  per  mile,  then  it  will  follow  that  the  total  cost  of 
the  railways  completed,  amounting  to  6565  miles,  has  been 
.£53,386,885. 

It  appears,  therefore,  on  this  supposition,  that  above  6500 
miles  of  railway  have  been  constructed  in  the  United  States,  at 
a  cost  of  53  millions,  while  5000  miles  of  railway  in  the  United 
Kingdom  have  cost  200  millions. 

I   have    not   been   able  to  obtain   any  reports   from    which 


CHAP.  XVI.]    INLAND  TRANSPORT  IN  THE  U.  STATES.        343 

the  movement  of  the  traffic  on  the  American  railways  col- 
lectively can  be  ascertained  with  precision  ;  but  I  have  ob- 
tained the  necessary  statistical  data  relating  to  nearly  twelve 
hundred  miles  of  railway  in  the  States  of  New  England  and 
in  that  of  New  York,  from  which  I  have  been  enabled  to 
calculate  all  the  circumstances  attending  the  working  of  these 
lines.  I  have,  accordingly,  given  these  in  the  following 
table : 


TABULAR  ANALYSIS  of  the  average  daily  Movement  of  the  Traffic  on 

Twenty-eight  principal  Railways  in  the  States  of  New  England  and 
in  the  State  of  New  York  during  the  Year  1847. 

Passenger  Traffic. 

Goods  Traffic. 

No. 
booked. 

Mileage. 

Re- 
ceipts. 

Mile- 
age of 

booked. 

Mileage. 

Re- 
ceipts. 

Mile- 
age of 
Trains. 

Albany   and   Sche- 

£. 

nectady  

630 

9,787 

65 

136 

•\ 

32 

62 

Utica-Schenectady. 

733 

37,600 

300 

406 

111 

360 

Syracuse-Utica  

544 

21,550 

169 

38 

151 

Auburn-Rochester  . 

518 

24,200 

197 

400 

37 

212 

Tonawanda  

367 

13,000 

92 

212 

23 

40 

Attica-Buffalo  

358 

9,850 

61 

162 

19 

48 

Saratoga—  Schenec- 

tady  

146 

2,068 

22 

54 

1730* 

65,550*  • 

4 

4 

Troy-Schenectady  . 

189 

3,840 

20 

140 

8 

9 

Renssalaer-Saratoga 

181 

2,625 

24 

680 

12 

26 

Troy     and     Green- 

bush 

545 

3,090 

21 

131 

25 

19 

New      York      and 

Harlem  

4,336 

17,000 

133 

450 

80 

170 

New  York-Erie.... 

326 

12,400 

60 

246 

102 

191 

Boston-Worcester  . 

1,640 

39,672 

180 

580 

775 

29,450 

221 

459 

Western  

1,062 

48,952 

296 

648 

752 

76,580 

471 

1,408 

Norwich-Worcester 

434 

8,158 

67 

326 

249 

7,858 

64 

204 

Connecticut  River.  . 

650 

6,454 

42 

203 

122 

2,210 

28 

64 

Pittsfield-N.  Adam  . 

98 

11,048 

9 

45 

29 

469 

6 

31 

Boston-Providence  . 

1,338 

19,680 

133 

464 

240 

5,310 

69 

143 

Trenton  

297 

3,234 

20 

60 

83 

910 

10 

19 

New  Bedford  

268 

4,460 

40 

173 

53 

930 

13 

53 

Stoughton  Branch  . 
Lowell  

46 
1,328 

482 
26,050 

3 

120 

11 

452 

22 
770 

238 
19,450 

3 

139 

4 
194 

Nashua  

618 

8,540 

41 

81 

414 

6,130 

49 

55 

Boston-Maine  .... 

1,995 

34,500 

189 

625 

330 

9,880 

106 

200 

Fitchburg  

1,342 

21,920 

98 

434 

670 

14,230 

119 

192 

Eastern  

2,240 

34,910 

203 

557 

112 

3,190 

30 

93 

Old  Colony  

1,068 

13,420 

73 

288 

117 

2,048 

24 

77 

Fall  River  

474 

8,860 

46 

219 

79 

1,718 

18 

72 

23,981 

437,350 

2,723 

8,091 

6,547 

248,351 

1,861 

4,560 

*  The  reports  do  not  supply  the  tonnage  and  mileage  of  these  railways  separate- 
ly, and  the  above  numbers  are  estimated  by  analogy  with  the  other  American  rail- 
ways. 


344  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XVI. 

Mile*. 

Total  length  of  the  above  railways  in  the  State  of  New  York 490 

„  „  „  States  of  New  England..     670 


Average  cost  of  construction  and  stock  per  mile  in  the  State  of  New  York 7,010 

„                     States  of  New  England  10,800 

General  average  —  9,200 

Receipts.    Expenses.  Profits. 
Total  average  receipts,  expenses,  and  profits  per  day  in  the 

State  of  New  York 1G54           684  970 

„               „             „            States  of  New  England     3040         1505  1535 

Totals....     1694         2189  2505 


Per  Mile  of         Per  Mile  run          Per  Cent,  per 
Railway  per  day.       by  Trains.       Annum  on  Capitsl. 

Receipts 4-05  7    5  16-1 

Expenses 1-89  3    5£ 

Profits 2-16  2  1H  8-6 

Expense  percent,  of  receipts '. 46'8 

Average  receipts  per  passenger  booked 27-0  d. 

Average  distance  traveled  per  passenger 18-2  miles 

Average  receipts  per  passenger  per  mile 1-47  d. 

Average  number  of  passengers  per  train 54-0 

Total  average  receipts  per  passenger  train  per  mile 7s. 

Average  receipts  per  ton  of  goods  booked 5s.  8|  d. 

Average  distance  carried  per  ton  38-0  miles 

Average  receipts  per  ton  per  mile 1-8  d. 

Average  number  of  tons  per  train 54-5 

Total  average  receipts  per  goods  train  per  mile 8-2  s. 

The  railways,  of  the  traffic  of  which  I  have  here  given  a 
synopsis,  include  the  most  active  and  profitable  enterprises  of 
this  kind  in  the  United  States.  We  can  not,  therefore,  infer 
from  the  results  obtained,  the  corresponding  movement  on  the 
remaining  lines.  It  will  appear  by  the  table  given  in  page  403, 
of  the  entire  system  of  American  railways,  that  the  dividends, 
exclusive  of  those  contained  in  the  preceding  analysis,  are  in 
general  small,  and  in  many  instances  nothing.  It  is  therefore 
probable  that,  in  the  aggregate,  the  average  profits  on  the  total 
amount  of  capital  invested  in  the  railways  do  not  exceed,  if  they 
equal,  the  average  profits  obtained  on  the  capital  invested  in 
English  railways. 

The  extraordinary  extent  of  railway,  constructed  at  so  early 
a  period,  in  the  United  States,  has  been  by  some  ascribed  to  tho 


CHAP.  XVI.]    INLAND  TRANSPORT  IN  THE  U.  STATES.       345 

absence  of  a  sufficient  extent  of  communication  by  common 
roads.  Although  this  cause  has  operated  to  some  extent  in 
certain  districts,  it  is  by  no  means  so  general  as  has  been  sup- 
posed. In  the  year  1838,  the  United  States  mails  circulated 
over  a  length  of  way  amounting  on  the  whole  to  136,218  miles, 
of  which  two  thirds  were  land  transport,  including  railways  as 
well  as  common  roads.  Of  the  latter  there  must  have  been 
about  80,000  miles  in  operation,  of  which,  however,  a  consider- 
able portion  was  bridle  roads.  The  price  of  transport  in  the 
stage  coaches  was  upon  an  average  3-25  d.  per  passenger  per 
mile,  the  average  price  by  railway  being  about  1-47  d.  per  mile. 

The  great  extent  of  internal  communication,  by  railways  and 
canals,  in  America,  in  proportion  to  its  population,  has  been  a 
general  subject  of  admiration.  The  population  of  the  United 
States  in  1840  amounted  to  17  millions,  and  if  its  rate  of  increase 
during  the  ten  years  commencing  at  that  epoch  be  equal  to  the 
rate  during  the  preceding  ten  years,  its  present  population  must 
be  about  23  millions.  There  are,  as  I  have  stated,  about  6500 
miles  of  railway  in  actual  operation  within  the  territory  of  the 
Union.  This,  in  round  numbers,  is  at  the  rate  of  one  mile  of 
railroad  for  every  3200  inhabitants. 

In  the  United  Kingdom,  there  are  in  operation  5000  miles  of 
railway,  with  a  population  of  30  millions,  which  is  at  the  rate  of 
one  mile  for  every  6000  inhabitants. 

It  would  therefore  appear  that,  in  proportion  to  the  population, 
the  length  of  railway  communication  in  the  United  States  is 
greater  than  in  the  United  Kingdom  in  the  proportion  of  6  to  3£. 
The  result  of  this  calculation,  however,  requires  considerable 
modification. 

Of  the  entire  extent  of  railway  constructed  in  the  United 
States,  by  far  the  greater  portion,  as  has  been  already  explained, 
consists  of  single  lines  constructed  in  a  light  and  cheap  manner, 
which  in  England  would  be  regarded  as  merely  serving  tempo- 
rary purposes ;  while,  on  the  contrary,  the  entire  extent  of  the 
English  system  consists  not  only  of  double  lines,  but  of  railways 
constructed  in  the  most  solid,  permanent,  and  expensive  manner, 
adapted  to  the  purposes  of  an  immense  traffic. 

If  a  comparison  were  to  be  instituted  at  all  between  the  two 
systems,  its  basis  ought  to  be  the  capital  expended  and  the  traffic 
served  by  them ;  in  which  case  the  result  would  be  somewhat 
different  from  that  obtained  by  the  mere  consideration  of  the 
length  of  the  lines. 

It  is  not,  however,  the  same  in  reference  to  the  canals,  in 
p* 


346  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XVI 

which,  it  must  be  admitted,  that  America  far  exceeds,  in  pro- 
portion to  her  population,  all  other  countries. 

There  is  no  country  where  easy  and  rapid  means  of  communi- 
cation are  likely  to  produce  more  beneficial  results  than  in  the 
United  States.  Composed  of  twenty-six  independent  republics, 
having  various,  and  in  some  instances  opposite  interests,  the 
American  confederacy  would  speedily  be  in  danger  of  dissolu- 
tion, if  its  population,  scattered  over  a  territory  so  vast,  were  not 
united  by  communications  sufficiently  rapid  to  produce  a  practical 
diminution  of  distance.  In  this  means  of  intercommunication 
Nature  has  greatly  aided  the  efforts  of  art,  for  certainly  no 
country  in  the  world  presents  such  magnificent  lines  of  natural 
water  communication. 

To  say  nothing  of  the  streams  which  intersect  the  Atlantic 
States,  and  carry  an  amount  of  inland  steam  navigation  wholly 
unexampled  in  Europe,  we  have  the  gigantic  stream  of  the 
Mississippi,  intersecting  the  immense  valley  to  which  it  gives  its 
name,  with  innumerable  tributaries,  navigable  by  steam-boats 
having  a  tonnage  of  first-rate  ships  for  many  thousands  of  miles, 
and  traversing  territories  which  present  immense  tracts  of  soil, 
of  the  highest  degree  of  fertility,  as  well  as  sources  of  mineral 
wealth  which  are  as  yet  unexplored. 

On  the  American  railways,  passengers  are  not  differently 
classed,  or  admitted  at  different  rates  of  fare,  as  on  those  in 
Europe.  There  is  but  one  class  of  passengers  and  one  fare. 
In  one  or  two  instances,  second  and  third-class  carriages  were 
attempted  to  be  established,  but  it  was  found  that  the  number 
of  passengers  availing  themselves  of  the  lower  fares  and  inferior 
accommodation  was  so  small  that  they  were  discontinued.  The 
only  distinction  observable  among  passengers  on  railways  is  that 
which  arises  from  color.  The  colored  population,  whether 
emancipated  or  not,  are  generally  excluded  from  the  vehicles 
provided  for  the  whites.  Such  travelers  are  but  few ;  and  they 
are  usually  accommodated  either  in  the  luggage  van  or  in  the 
carriage  in  which  the  guard  or  conductor  travels. 

Railways  in  America  have  been  generally  constructed,  as  in 
England,  by  joint-stock  companies,  with  which,  however,  the 
state  interferes  much  more  largely  than  in  England.  In  some 
cases,  a  major  limit  to  the  dividend  is  imposed  by  the  law  which 
constitutes  the  company.  In  some,  the  dividends  are  allowed 
to  augment;  but  when  they  exceed  a  certain  limit,  the  surplus 
is  divided  with  the  state.  In  some,  the  privilege  granted  to  the 
companies  is  limited  to  a  certain  period.  In  some,  a  right  of 


CHAP.  XVI.]     INLAND  TRANSPORT  IN  THE  U.  STATES.       347 

revising  and  restricting  the  tariff  periodically  is  reserved  to  the 
state. 

But  little  merchandise  is  transported  on  the  American  railways, 
the  cost  of  transport  being  greater  than  goods  in  general  are  capa- 
ble of  paying;  nevertheless,  a  tariff,  regulated  by  weight  alone, 
without  distinction  of  classes,  is  fixed  by  law  for  merchandise. 

In  the  States  of  New  England  the  legislature  does  not  inter- 
fere with  the  rate  of  fare  or  the  tariff  of  charges  imposed  by 
the  companies ;  but  there  is  a  provision  in  all  the  railway  acts, 
that  after  ten  years  from  the  date  of  the  opening  of  each  railway, 
dividends  are  not  to  exceed  ten  per  cent.,  and  that  if  the  profits 
should  be  such  as  to  produce  a  greater  dividend,  the  tariff  must 
be  reduced  so  as  to  bring  the  dividend  to  that  limit.  In  some 
few  cases  of  the  New  England  railways,  as,  for  instance,  in  the 
line  from  Boston  to  Providence,  this  period  is  only  four  years. 

In  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  the  charters  granted  to  the 
several  railway  companies  differ  very  much  in  their  conditions. 
In  some,  an  average  limit  is  named,  which  the  fares  and  tonnage 
are  not  to  exceed;  in  others,  an  average  maximum  tariff  is  fixed. 
These  maxima  are  different  on  different  lines. 

Besides  these  major  limits  imposed  on  the  fares,  frhere  is  also, 
in  certain  cases,  a  major  limit  imposed  on  the  dividends,  which 
in  some  cases  must  not  exceed  twelve,  and  in  others  fifteen  per 
cent.  In  some  cases,  the  dividends  above  a  certain  amount  are 
subject  to  a  tax,  payable  to  the  state. 

With  the  exception  of  this  tax  upon  dividends  which  exceed 
a  certain  amount,  and  which  only  prevails  in  the  State  of  Penn- 
sylvania, no  special  tax  is  imposed  on  the  American  railways  and 
canals.  Sometimes,  however,  they  are  subject  to  the  same  taxes 
on  their  lands  and  buildings  to  which  other  proprietors  are  liable ; 
in  some  cases  they  are  exempted  from  them. 

In  several  of  the  largest  states,  such  as  New  York,  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  Virginia,  the  acts  constituting  the  railway  companies 
contain  a  clause  reserving  an  absolute  power  of  modifying  them 
from  time  to  time  as  the  legislature  may  see  fit.  In  no  case, 
however,  has  this  clause  been  yet  brought  into  practical  opera- 
tion, and  it  is  generally  regarded  as  the  mere  theoretical  ex- 
pression of  the  unlimited  sovereignty  of  the  state. 

In  some  of  the  states  the  grants  to  the  railway  companies  are 
for  an  unlimited  time.  In  the  northern  states,  however,  their 
period  varies  from  50  to  100  years. 

In  some  of  the  latter  grants  an  exclusive  privilege  is  given  to 
the  companies  of  making  railways  through  certain  districts. 


348  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XVI. 

Nothing  can  be  more  simple,  expeditious,  and  cheap  than  the 
means  of  obtaining  an  act  for  the  establishment  of  a  railway 
company  in  America.  A  public  meeting  is  held,  at  which  the 
project  is  discussed  and  adopted.  A  deputation  is  appointed  to 
apply  to  the  legislature,  which  grants  the  act  without  expense, 
delay,  or  official  difficulty.  The  principle  of  competition  is  not 
brought  into  play,  as  in  France;  nor  is  there  any  investigation  as 
to  the  expediency  of  the  pi-oject,  with  reference  to  future  profit 
or  loss,  as  in  England.  No  other  guarantee  or  security  is  re- 
quired from  the  company  than  the  payment  by  the  shareholders 
of  a  certain  amount  constituting  the  first  call.  In  some  states, 
the  nonpayment  of  a  call  is  followed  by  the  confiscation  of  the 
previous  payments ;  in  others,  a  fine  is  imposed  on  the  share- 
holder; in  others  the  share  is  sold,  and  if  the  produce  be  less 
than  the  price  at  which  it  was  delivered,  the  surplus  can  be 
recovered  from  the  shareholder  by  process  of  law.  In  all  cases, 
the  acts  creating  the  companies  fix  a  time  within  which  the 
works  must  be  completed  under  pain  of  forfeiture.  The  traffic 
in  shares  before  the  definitive  constitution  of  the  company  is 
prohibited. 

Although' the  state  itself  has  rarely  undertaken  the  execution 
of  railways,  it  holds  out  in  most  cases  inducements  in  different 
foi'ms  to  the  enterprise  of  companies.  In  some  cases,  the  state 
takes  a  great  number  of  shares,  which  is  generally  accompanied 
by  a  loan  made  to  the  company,  consisting  in  state  stock  delivered 
at  par,  which  the  company  negotiate  at  its  own  risk.  This  loan 
is  often  converted  into  a  subvention. 

In  many  cases  the  companies  obtain  the  land  gratuitously,  or 
for  a  nominal  price. 

\Vhen  the  price  becomes  a  matter  of  consideration,  the  land 
is  valued  by  a  jury,  as  in  England. 

Several  states  have  made  a  condition  that  foreign  capital  shall 
be  excluded  under  penalty  of  forfeiture  or  fine  against  the 
companies. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

BELGIAN  RAILWAYS. 

THE  Belgian  state  railways,  though  in  their  total  length  not 
exceeding  350  miles,  are  an  object  of  vast  importance  considered 
in  relation  to  the  entire  system  of  railroads  now  spread  over 
the  continent  of  Europe. 

They  are  a  subject  of  further  interest  to  the  statistician  and 
the  historian  from  the  date  and  the  circumstances  of  their 
construction. 

The  small  state  of  Belgium  had  but  just  established  its  inde- 
pendence and  been  acknowledged  by  the  great  powers  of 
Europe,  when  the  statesmen  to  whom  its  government  was  con- 
fided, seeing  the  isolation  in  which  it  stood,  and  the  somewhat 
contemptuous  regards  cast  upon  it  by  the  powers  of  the  north 
and  east,  from  whom  its  recognition  had  been  reluctantly  ex- 
torted, resolved  to  confer  upon  it,  by  an  effort  of  enterprise  and 
art,  that  influence  which  was  denied  to  it  by  its  insignificant 
territory,  its  small  population,  and  limited  commerce. 

The  first  administration  under  the  newly  appointed  sovereign 
was  scarcely  installed,  therefore,  when  it  was  determined  to 
signalize  its  inauguration  by  a  grand  project,  tending  to  estab- 
lish relations  with  other  states,  and  calculated  to  produce  such 
reciprocal  dependence  as  would  be  a  strong  guarantee  for  the 
maintenance  of  general  tranquillity  and  respect  for  the  inde- 
pendence of  the  new  state.  It  was,  in  a  word,  resolved  to 
overspread  the  territory  with  a  system  of  railway  communica- 
tion, which  should  render  this  small  kingdom  the  great  highway 
for  a  large  share  of  the  commerce  and  personal  intercourse 
between  some  of  the  chief  countries  of  Europe. 

It  was  proposed  to  construct  two  great  trunk  railways  form- 
ing a  cross,  the  intersection  of  which  should  be  at  Malines. 
The  length  of  the  cross  was  to  extend  from  Ostend  to  Liege, 
and  to  be  continued  through  the  Prussian  territory  by  Aix-la- 
Chapelle  to  Cologne. 

The  transverse  line  was  to  be  carried  at  right  angles  to  this 
from  north  to  south,  extending  from  Antwerp  through  Brussels 


350  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XVII. 

by  Mons  to  the  French  territory  near  Valenciennes,  to  which 
city  it  was  to  be  continued. 

Thus  it  will  be  perceived,  that  Malines,  and  not  Brussels, 
was  to  be  the  great  focus  of  these  lines  of  communication. 
Several  secondary  lines  or  branches  were  to  complete  the 
network. 

The  EASTERN  LINE,  extending  from  Malines  to  Cologne,  by 
Louvain,  Tirlemont,  Landen,  Waremme,  Liege,  and  Verviers, 
near  the  Prussian  frontier,  was  to  have  a  branch  to  St.  Trond. 

The  WESTERN  LINE,  from  Malines  to  Ostend,  by  Ter- 
monde,  Ghent,  and  Bruges,  was  to  have  a  branch  from  Ghent 
to  Lille  and  Courtrai. 

The  NORTHERN  LINE,  from  Malines  to  Antwerp,  was  to 
have  a  lateral  line  from  Antwerp  to  Ghent,  to  be  continued 
to  Lille,  so  as  to  afford  a  direct  communication  between  Ghent, 
Ostend,  Lille,  and  Antwerp,  without  the  circuitous  route  af- 
forded by  the  trunk  lines  intersecting  at  Malines. 

The  SOUTHERN  LINE,  extending  from  Malines  through 
Brussels  to  Mons,  was  to  throw  off  a  branch  at  Brain-le-Comte 
to  Charleroi,  to  be  carried  from  thence  to  Namur. 

The  total  length  of  the  entire  system  was  to  be  347  miles. 

This  magnificent  project  was  no  sooner  announced,  than  it 
was  adopted  by  the  legislature,  and  received  with  enthusiasm 
by  the  people. 

The  date  of  the  law  sanctioning  it  was  the  1st  May,  1834 ; 
and  the  statesmen  to  whom  the  country  was  indebted  for  it 
were  MM.  Lebeau  and  Rogier. 

Independently  of  those  considerations  which  affected  the  re- 
lations of  the  new  state  with  the  other  powers  of  Europe,  the 
internal  commerce  of  Belgium  prompted  such  an  enterprise. 

The  revolution  of  1830  having  separated  that  country  from 
Holland,  it  lost  the  mouth  of  the  Scheldt  as  an  issue  for  its 
commerce.  The  communication  with  the  German  states  could 
not  be  maintained  by  sea,  and  was  attended  with  expense  by 
land  on  common  roads,  which  rendered  it  impracticable.  The 
coal-producing  provinces  of  Liege,  which  before  the  revolution 
supplied  the  Dutch  markets,  were  now  isolated  and  unable  to 
share  the  supply  of  the  interior  with  the  coal  district  of  Mons. 
An  effectual  and  cheap  communication  with  the  ocean  on  the 
one  side,  and  with  the  frontier  next  to  the  Rhine  on  the  other, 
so  as  to  traverse  the  kingdom  from  east  to  west,  would  be  neces- 
sary to  restore  the  prosperity  of  Liege.  It  was  first  proposed 
to  accomplish  this  by  means  of  a  canal ;  but  MM.  Lebeau  and 


CHAP.  XVII.] 


BELGIAN  RAILWAYS. 


351 


Rogier  were  sufficiently  clearsighted  to  perceive,  even  at  that 
early  epoch,  the  important  part  which  railways  were  destined 
to  play  in  the  commerce  and  politics  of  Europe,  and  how  much 
more  such  a  system  would  conduce  to  the  national  prosperity 
and  political  importance  of  their  country. 

It  was  resolved  to  construct  the  system  of  railways  thus  pro- 
jected at  the  national  expense,  and  to  work  them  under  national 
management.  The  execution  of  the  project  was  commenced 
on  the  1st  June,  1834.  Within  two  years,  portions  of  the 
system  were  completed  and  opened  for  traffic.  The  length 
open  in  1840  was  190  miles,  and  the  entire  system  was  com- 
pleted within  the  next  four  years  at  the  following  rates  : 


In  1841. 
1842., 
1843. 
1844. 


Length  in  Operation. 
Miles. 

212 

246 

300 

..   347 


The  stimulus  which  this  system  of  communication  impressed 
upon  the  commerce  of  Belgium  may  be  inferred  from  the  fol- 
lowing table,  showing  the  progressive  development  of  the  home 
and  foreign  trade  of  that  country  from  1836  to  1845 : 


TABULAR  STATEMENT  of  the  progressive  Increase  of  the  Commerce  of 
Belgium  during  Ten  Years  ending  December  31,  1845. 

Year. 

Imports. 

Exports. 

Value  of  Goods 
entered. 

Value  of  Goods 
delivered  for 
Consumption. 

(Value  of  Belgian 
and  foreign 
Goods. 

Value  of  Belgian 
Goods. 

1836  
1840  
1841  ... 

8,356,000 
9,856,000 
11,088,000 
11,536,000 
11,784,000 
12,308,000 
12,640,000 

7,488,000 
8,^24,000 
8,400,000 
9,368,000 
8,656,000 
8,152,000 
9,344,000 

6,620,000 

7,:i4U,ono 
8,464,000 
8,080,000 
8,884,000 
11,344,000 
12,408,000 

£.. 
5,792,000 
5,584,000 
6,164,000 
5,684,000 
6,248,000 
6,980,000 
7,312,000 

1842 

1843  

1844 

1845 

The  value  of  the  imports  and  exports  at  the  port  of  Antwerp 
in  1839  was  665,600,000  ;  in  1841  it  had  risen  to  6£6,640,000, 
and  in  1843  it  amounted  to  <£9,080,000. 

The  production  of  coal  in  Belgium  was  doubled  in  the  ten 
years  ending  1845. 

From  1831  to  1835,  the  average  annual  export  of  cast-iron 


352  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XVII. 

was  3887  tons.  In  the  next  five  years  the  average  annual 
amount  was  7478  tons. 

After  1840,  when  the  railways  were  nearly  completed,  this 
branch  of  commerce  was  nearly  quintupled ;  its  average  amount, 
in  the  six  years  ending  December,  1845,  being  35,000  tons. 

The  same  rapid  progression  is  observable  in  the  other 
branches  of  commerce. 

The  average  importation  of  raw  cotton,  previous  to  1835, 
was  4400  tons.  In  the  five  years  ending  31st  December,  1846, 
its  average  annual  amount  was  7353  tons. 

Previous  to  1835,  the  average  annual  import  of  wool  was 
2973  tons.  In  the  five  years  ending  31st  December,  1846,  its 
annual  average  amount  was  4066  tons. 

Let  us  now  consider  the  expenditure  by  which  the  agent 
which  was  so  mainly  instrumental  in  thus  extending  Belgian 
commerce  was  created. 

The  general  character  of  the  country  was  favorable  to  the 
construction  of  railways ;  but  much  more  stress  has  been  laid 
on  this  circumstance,  by  those  who  desire  to  explain  the  early 
advance  made  in  this  improvement  by  Belgium,  than  is  due  to 
it.  It  is  true  that  those  parts  of  the  country  between  Brussels 
and  the  ocean  are  generally  level,  and  that  but  little  earth-work 
or  works  of  art  necessary  to  bestride  valleys  or  penetrate  hills 
were  required ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  the  country  was  inter- 
sected by  numerous  rivers  and  canals,  which  necessitated  the 
construction  of  as  many  bridges  and  aqueducts. 

The  country,  however,  has  a  very  different  character  be- 
tween Brussels  and  the  Prussian  frontier.  The  ground  there 
presents  obstacles  requiring  works  of  art  of  an  expensive  and 
difficult  character. 

From  Louvain  to  Ans,  the  line  passes  through  an  undulating 
country,  and  is  carried  by  cuttings  of  an  average  depth  of  fifty 
feet,  alternating  with  embankments  of  an  average  height  of 
sixty-six  feet,  up  a  gradual  inclination  to  a  summit  nearly  five 
hundred  feet  above  the  station  at  Louvain.  In  this  section  of 
the  line  there  is  a  tunnel  which  measures  upward  of  one  thou- 
sand yards,  besides  numerous  aqueducts,  bridges,  and  viaducts, 
by  which  the  canals  and  common  roads  are  conducted  over  and 
under  the  railway. 

From  Ans  to  Liege,  the  country  falls  along  the  side  of  the 
valley  of  the  Mouse,  by  a  steep  declivity.  Here,  in  a  length 
of  2300  feet,  there  is  a  fall  of  360  feet. 

The  descent  is  effected  by  two  inclined  planes,  worked  by 


CHAP.  XVII.]  BELGIAN  RAILWAYS.  353 

two  stationary  engines  of  360  horse  power.  The  average 
gradient  of  these  planes  is  one  in  33.  The  prevailing  gradient 
between  Louvain  and  Liege  is  from  one  in  340  to  one  in  250, 
with  the  exception  of  a  few  short  gradients  constructed  at  one 
in  150.  The  curves  upon  this  line  have  generally  a  large  radius, 
with  the  exception  of  a  few  points  where  they  are  laid  down 
with  a  radius  of  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile. 

It  is  not  found  in  the  working  of  the  line  that  these  curves 
are  dangerous,  or  produce  any  appreciable  resistance  to  the 
tractive  power. 

The  Belgian  railways  are  distinguished  from  those  of  En- 
gland and  France  by  the  circumstance  of  passing  common  roads, 
wherever  it  is  possible  to  do  so,  by  level  crossings.  By  this 
expedient  considerable  expense  in  the  original  construction  is 
saved  in  bridges  and  viaducts;  and,  notwithstanding  the  great 
traffic  on  the  Belgian  lines,  no  serious  accidents  have  been  pro- 
duced by  it.  It  is  to  be  considered,  however,  that,  the  speed 
of  the  trains  being  less  than  on  the  English  railways,  the  liability 
to  accident  is  proportionally  diminished. 

The  extraordinary  expedition  with  which  the  Belgian  rail- 
roads were  completed,  has  been  mainly  caused  by  the  circum- 
stance of  their  having  been  executed  by  the  state,  and  the 
execution  being  conducted  under  the  superintendence  of  a 
special  railway  committee,  invested  with  adequate  powers.  By 
this  expedient,  innumerable  official  formalities  were  avoided. 
The  two  engineers,  MM.  Simons  and  Deridder,  who  had  pro- 
posed the  project,  were  invested  with  the  general  direction  of 
the  works ;  full  powers  were  given  them  to  form  contracts,  pur- 
chase land,  and  make  other  definitive  arrangements  necessary  for 
carrying  on  the  works,  without  reference  to  higher  official  powers. 

On  the  1st  January,  1848,  the  amount  which  had  been  ex- 
pended on  the  construction  of  the  Belgian  railways,  and  the 
stock  employed  in  working  them,  was  ^£6, 406,476,  of  which  the 
following  were  the  details  : 

eg. 

Construction  of  the  road 4,800,270 

Buildings   and   machinery  for   the  inclined 

planes 59,544 

Buildings  and  appendages  of  the  stations  . .  402,949 

Dependencies  of  the  stations 84,772 

Management  and  office  expenses 205,773 

Rolling  stock 853,168 

666,406,476 


354  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XVII. 

But  of  this  sum,  a  part  had  been  expended  in  land  for  the 
way  and  works,  which  was  subsequently  found  to  be  in  excess. 
A  portion  of  this  was  accordingly  resold,  which  produced 
<£ 46,865.  Deducting  this  from  the  above  expenditure,  the  re- 
mainder will  be  <£6,359,611;  which  is,  therefore,  the  actual 
amount  of  capital  invested  in  the  construction  of  the  Belgian 
railways,  consisting  of  353  miles,  including  all  the  works  and 
the  rolling  stock. 

The  cost  per  mile,  therefore,  of  this  system,  with  its  working 
stock,  has  been  <£18,016. 

The  amount  of  the  rolling  stock,  the  total  cost  of  which  was, 
as  appears  by  the  above  estimate,  66853,168,  was,  on  the  1st 
January,  1848,  as  follows: 

Locomotive  engines 153 

Tenders 154 

Passenger  coaches 751 

Goods  wagons 2915 

Post-offices 14 

Wagons  used  in  the  service  of  the  railway 394 

An  increase  of  192  goods  wagons  was  ordered,  which  were 
delivered  in  1848. 

In  the  following  table  I  have  exhibited  the  classified  receipts, 
the  expenses,  and  profits,  with  the  relation  of  them  to  each 
other,  on  the  Belgian  railways,  during  the  seven  years  ending 
31st  December,  1847: 


TABULAR  ANALYSIS  of  the  Receipts,  Expenses,  and  Profits  arising  from 
the  Traffic  carried  on  the  Belgian  Hallways  daring  the  Seven  Years 
ending  December  31,  1847. 

Number    of   miles 

1841. 
210 

1842. 

1843. 

1844. 

1845. 

1846. 

1847. 
353 

246 

300 

347 

347 

347  " 

Passengers  
Passengers'  baggage 
Goods    carried    by 
passenger  trains. 
Goods    carried    by 
goods  trains  
Carriages,     horses, 
cattle  and  sundries 

Total  receipts  
Working  expenses 

Profits  

Expenses  per  cent, 
of  receipts  

164,550 

5,088 

13,600 
57,684 
8,328 

187,372 
11,916 

16,332 
70,676 
12,168 

219,288 
13,632 

24,808 
92,016 
11,904 

246,664 
15,788 

35,980 
132,920 
9,868 

255,736 
16,860 

40,364 
167,024 
16,148 

277,488 
19,364 

39,884 
188,784 
19,716 

278,716 
21,200 

42,096 
232,504 
18,928 

249,250 
181,586 

298,464 
188,012 

361,G48 
219,064 

441,220 
230,016 

496,132 
252,864 

54(5,236 
289,830 

593,444 
372,756 

67,664 

110,452 

141,584 

210,604 

243,268 

256,406 

5220,688 

72 

63 

61 

52 

51 

53 

63 

CHAP.  XVII.] 


BELGIAN  RAILWAYS. 


355 


Having  explained,  in  the  preceding  chapters  of  this  volume, 
the  manner  in  which  the  movement  of  the  traffic  of  the  carrying 
stock  and  the  engines  can  be  deduced  from  the  respective  quan- 
tities and  mileages  of  these,  when  properly  recorded,  it  will  not 
be  necessary  here  to  go  through  the  details  of  the  calculations 
by  which  these  important  statistical  data  are  obtained.  I  shall, 
therefore,  give  the  principal  results,  in  the  following  table,  with- 
out the  arithmetical  processes  by  which  they  are  found : 


SYNOPSIS  of  the  Movement  on  the  Belgian  Railways,  computed  from 
official  Documents,  during  the  Four  Years  ending  Dec.  31,  1847. 

LOCOMOTIVE  POWER. 
Total  average  daily  mileage  of  engines. 
With  goods  

1844. 

1845. 

1846. 

1847. 

1,452 

2,778 

2,071 
2,571 

2,788 
2,765 

3,483 
3,001 

Total  

Total  average  hours  of  engine  standing  daily 
with  steam  up  without  running  

Total  daily  average  consumption  of  coke. 

4,230 

4,642 

5,553 

6,484 

489 

472 

559 

588 

Ibt. 

37,540 
10,432 
125,687 

lb>. 

40,916 
10,421 
136,657 

187,994 

ibt. 
46,10a 
12,337 
166,270 

«... 
50,973 
14,539 
195,893 

In  standing  with  steam  up  

Total  

173,659 

224,712 

261,405 

143 
29-6 
63-0 

67-2 

Ibt. 

595 
165 
1,995 

148 
31-4 
67-4 

69-0 

7-4 

Ibs. 

610 
155 
2,039 

151 
36-8 
75-0 

74-0 
7-5 

Ibt. 

613 
165 
2,217 

154 
42-2 
84-0 

77-0 
7-0 

lb». 
607 
173 
2,332 

Average  number  of  engines  lighted  daily  
Average  number  of  miles  run  by  each  engine 
lighted   

Average  hours  standing  daily  with  steam  up 
without  working  per  engine  
Average   consumption   of  coke    per  engine 
lighted. 
In  lighting  and  steaming  
In  standing  with  steam  up  

Total 

2,755 

2,804 

2,995 

3,112 

Average  consumption  per  hour  when  standing 

21-4 
29-7 
40-0 

20-9 
29-9 
41-6 

1,089 
2,660 
5,685 

22-0 
30-0 
40-0 

24-7 
30-3 
37-1 

1,132 

2,486 
6,469 

Average  consumption  per  mile  when  drawing 

Average  consumption  per  running  mile,  in- 
cluding standing  and  lighting  

PASSENGER  TRAFFIC. 
Total  average  daily  number  booked. 

904 
2,390 
5,425 

1,138 
2,837 
6,032 

2d  class 

Total  

8,719 

9,510 

10,007 

10,087 

Total  average  daily  mileage. 

39,080 
68,274 
116.4'J-2 

37,236 
65,638 
96,937 

41,652 
73,446 
110,155 

42,567 
67,939 
115,772 

2d  class 

3d  class  

Total  I  223,840  ;  199,81  1  i  225,-253    226,278 

sse 


RAILWAY  ECONOMY. 


[CHAP.  XVII. 


184i. 

1845. 

1846. 

1847. 

Total  average  daily  receipts. 

£. 

£.. 

£. 
209 

£.. 

214 

2d  class 

243 

255 

274 

254 

3d  class 

254 

249 

269 

283 

Total  

671 

696 

752 

751 

Total  average  receipts  per  passenger  booked. 

d. 
46-2 

d. 

42-3 

d. 
44-1 

d. 

45-2 

2d  class 

24-3 

23-0 

23-2 

24-6 

3d  class 

11-3 

10-5 

10-7 

10-5 

General  average.  . 

18-5 

17-5 

18-0 

18-0 

Total  average  number  of  miles  traveled  per 
passenger  booked. 
1st  class                         .                  ... 

43-2 

36-9 

37-6 

2d  class 

28-5 

24-7 

25-9 

27-4 

3d  class 

21-4 

17-1 

18-3 

17-8 

25-6 

20-9 

22-5 

22-6 

Total  average  receipts  per  passenger  per  mile. 

d. 

1-42 

d. 

j-24 

d. 

1-21 

d. 

1'21 

2d  class  

0-85 

0-93 

0-90 

0-90 

3d  class  

0-53 

0-62 

0-58 

0-59 

. 

0-72 

0-84 

0-80 

0-80 

•*& 

Average  number  of  passengers  drawn  by  each 
engine. 
1st  class                        ... 

14-1 

14-6 

15-0 

14-1 

2d  class 

24-6 

25-6 

26-5 

22-6 

3d  class 

42-0 

37-8 

38-6 

Average  receipts  per  mile  run  of  passenger 
trains. 
1st  class  
2d  class                          

1-26 
1-75 

1-50 

1-98 

1-51 
1-98 

1-43 
1-69 

3d  class 

1-83 

1-94 

Total  

4-84 

5-42 

5-43 

4-98 

Total  number  of  passenger  carriages  used  
Total  average  daily  mileage  of  all  the  passen- 

586 

643 

20  568 

700 

735 

"1-007 

Average  daily  mileage  per  carriage  
Average  number  of   passengers   carried   by 
each  coach  
Average  number  of  passenger  carriages  drawn 

28-7 
13-5 
6-05 

32-0 
9-7 

g.Q 

25-6 
12-6 
6-5 

28-6 
10-75 
7-0 

Average  composition  of  a  pasaenger  train. 
Passenger  coaches  
Baggage-  vans  

6-05 
0-81 
1-01 

8-00 
1-06 
1-32 

6-5 

7-0 

0-09 

0-09 

0-30 

0-24 

Cattle-wagons     

0-10 

0-10 

2  i 

Post-offices  
Prison-vans  
Wagons  in  the  service  of  the  railway  .  . 

0-16 
0-04 
0-10 

0-16 
0-05 
0-18 

Total  number  of  vehicles  

8-60 

11-2 

8-8 

9-7 

CHAP.  XVII.] 


BELGIAN  RAILWAYS. 


357 


1844. 

1845. 

1846. 

1847. 

Total  average  daily  number  of  tons  booked  .  . 
Total  average  daily  mileage  of  goods  

1,264 
56,756 

1,771 
83,420 

2,016 

94,000 

2,634 
115,817 

Average  number  of  miles  carried  per  ton  

44-8 

47-0 

47-0 

43-8 

Average  number  of  tons  drawn  by  each  engine 

38-0 

40-0 

33-7 

33-2 

Average  receipts  per  mile  run  of  goods  trains 

5-17s. 

4-4U. 

3-36s. 

3-f.5s. 

Total  average  daily  mileage  of  goods  wagons 
Total  number  of  wagons  used  
Average  daily  mileage  of  each  wagon  

23,102 
1,783 
13-4 

38,728 
2,073 
18-7 

54,087 
2,400 
22-5 

70,008 
2,707 
25-9 

Average  number  of  goods  wagons  drawn  by 

15-74 

18-7 

19-4 

20-1 

Average  number  of  tons  carried  per  wagon  .  . 

2.46 

2-15 

1-74 

1-66 

Total  daily  average  receipts  for  goods  

375Z. 

456Z. 

517/. 

639J. 

Average  receipts  per  ton  booked  

5s.  Wd. 

5s.  2d. 

5s.  IJd. 

5s.  2d. 

Average  receipts  per  ton  per  mile  

1-51  d. 

l-32d. 

1-324. 

l-34d. 

From  the  important  results  brought  together  in  the  preceding 
table,  we  collect  the  following  summary  conclusions,  in  round 
numbers. 

1st.  On  the  Belgian  railways  each  locomotive  is  worked  every 
other  day,  runs  75  miles,  is  kept  standing  with  steam  up  for  7 
hours,  and  consumes  a  ton  and  a  half  of  coke. 

2d.  Each  passenger  engine  draws  80  passengers,  with  bag- 
gage, parcels,  mails,  &c.;  the  receipts  amounting  to  5s.  per  mile, 
exclusive  of  a  small  amount  due  to  baggage,  &c.;  the  train  con- 
sisting of  from  eight  to  ten  vehicles.  Each  first-class  passenger 
travels  on  an  average  37  miles,  each  second-class  passenger  26 
miles,  and  each  third-class  passenger  18  miles.  The  receipts 
proceeding  from  each  first-class  passenger  are  3s.,  from  each 
second-class  passenger  2s.  2d.,  and  from  each  third-class  pas- 
senger, Is. 


a  day,  and 


,      .       . 

3d.  Each  passenger  coach  runs  about  28  miles 
carries  about  11  passengers. 

4th.  Each  goods  engine  draws  on  an  average  20  goods  wagons, 
drawing  34  tons  of  goods.  Each  ton  of  goods  is  transported  on 
an  average  44  miles,  and  the  receipts  for  each  mile  run  by  the 
goods  engines  are  5s.  2rf. 

To  compare  the  quantity  of  traffic  with  the  extent  of  the 
railway,  it  will  be  necessary  to  suppose  it  uniformly  carried 
over  the  whole  length  of  the  lines,  and  to  calculate  the  quantity 
which  would,  in  that  case,  pass  over  every  mile.  The  results 
are  exhibited  in  the  following  table  : 


358 


RAILWAY  ECONOMY. 


[CHAP.  XVII. 


TABLE  showing  the  average  Amount  of  Traffic  carried  daily  over  each 
Mile  of  the  Belgian  Railways  during  the  Four  Years  ending  December 
31,  1847. 

1844. 

1845. 

1846. 

1847. 

113 
196 
336 

107 
189 
279 

120 
212 
317 

120 
193 

328 

2d  class 

3d  class              ... 

Total  

645 

575 

649 

|41 

8-00 
48-4 
163-6 
4-18 
66-5 

7-40 
59-3 
240-5 
5-96 
111-4 

7-95 
51-7 
271-0 
8-3 
156-0 

8-50 
59-5 
328-0 
8-5 
198-0 

Passenger  carriages  .  

This  would,  therefore,  be  the  movement  of  the  traffic  on  the 
Belgian  railways,  if  it  were  uniformly  carried  over  the  whole 
extent  of  the  lines,  and  throughout  all  seasons  of  the  year.  A 
great  variation,  however,  takes  place,  both  locally  and  according 
to  the  change  of  season. 

The  official  reports  published  by  the  Belgian  government 
supply  the  means  of  ascertaining  both  these  variations.  In  the 
annexed  diagram  I  have  exhibited  the  local  variation  of  the 
goods  and  passenger  traffic  on  every  section  of  the  Belgian  rail- 
ways. The  variations  of  the  passenger  traffic  are  marked  by 
the  continuous  lines ;  those  of  the  goods  traffic  by  the  dotted 
lines ;  the  heights  in  each  case  representing  the  quantity  of  the 
traffic  which  passes  over  each  section  of  the  line. 

It  will  be  observed  that  each  sort  of  traffic  is  subject  to  very  great 
local  variation ;  the  passenger  traffic  rather  more  so  than  the  goods. 

The  section  between  Brussels  and  Malines  is  obviously  ex- 
ceptional, having  a  much  larger  proportion  of  passenger  traffic 
than  any  other  section  of  the  line.  This  is  easily  explained  by 
the  configuration  of  the  Belgian  railways.  Malines  forms  the 
intersection  or  focus  of  the  four  great  trunk  lines,  and  the  great 
predominance  of  traffic  exhibited  in  the  diagram  arises  from  that 
portion  of  the  traffic  which  proceeds  from  Brussels  to  feed  all 
these,  and  which  returns  to  Brussels  from  them. 

The  same  exceptional  character  appears  in  the  goods  traffic 
between  Antwerp  and  Malines,  which  is  explained  in  the  same 
manner.  The  merchandise  arriving  at  or  departing  from  Ant- 
werp necessarily  travels  over  the  section  of  the  line  between 
Antwerp  and  Malines,  either  departing  from  or  arriving  at  the 
common  focus  of  the  trunk  lines  at  Malines. 


CHAP.  XVII.]  BELGIAN  RAILWAYS. 


j 

Kamn, 

i 





Brain  LeComte 

Museron 

| 

Frontier               _i 

£§ 

| 

£ 

Ghent                  g 

i 

I 

Men,                   g 

I 

i 

g 

| 

| 

BrusaeU            £ 

— 

.... 

! 

Frontiers            t, 
•w 

1 

to 
Chenee                ? 

I 
Lioge                  2 

| 

I 

Loura                  g 
MalinM               1 

£ 

| 

£3 

^ 

g 

5 

t- 

'S3 

m 

u> 

" 

BrOMols 

1 

, 

; 

\ 

;7 

- 

1 

1 

I 

5     >o 

C 

OD 

oc 

C* 

« 

c 

r- 

RAILWAY  ECONOMY. 


[CHAP.  XVII. 


Another  exceptional  character  in  the  goods  traffic  is  exhibited 
between  Charleroi  and  Brain-le-Comte,  which  is  to  be  attribu- 
ted to  the  coal  trade  of  the  former  district. 

The  variation  of  the  daily  traffic  with  the  change  of  seasons 
is  exhibited  in  the  same  manner  in  the  annexed  diagram,  in 
which,  as  before,  the  continuous  lines  represent  the  passenger 
traffic,  and  the  dotted  lines  the  goods  traffic.  It  will  be  observed 
that  the  latter  is  much  more  uniform  and  independent  of  the 
seasons  than  the  former. 


9 
8 
7 
6 
5 
4 
3 
2 
1 

9 

8 
7 

•  c, 
5 
•1 
3 
2 

^i 

•  —  • 

= 

~ 

— 

...... 

= 

•••••• 



1  

I 

Jan.     Feb.  March.Jlpril.  May.  June.  July.    Aug.   Sept.     Oct.   JVoc.    Dec. 

August  and  September  form  the  great  traveling  season  for 
passengers;  the  quantity  of  traffic  of  this  kind  being  in  these 
months  more  than  double  its  amount  in  the  four  months  com- 
mencing in  November  and  ending  in  February. 

The  proportion  in  which  each  of  the  three  classes  of  passen- 
gers supplies  traffic  to  the  railways,  is  exhibited  in  the  following 
table  (see  page  361)  for  the  four  years  ending  31st  December, 
1847. 

But  the  preceding  details,  important  as  they  are,  do  not  form 
all  the  valuable  information  which  can  be  deduced  from  the 
reports  of  the  railway  department  of  the  Belgian  government. 

In  order  to  ascertain  the  proportion  in  which  the  business  of 
the  railway  is  supplied  by  traffic  classified  according  to  the  dis- 
tances it  is  transported,  tables  have  been  published  showing  the 


CHAP.  XVII.] 


BELGIAN  RAILWAYS. 


361 


TABLE  showing  the  Number  of  each  Class  of  Passengers  in  every  100 
booked,  the  Share  of  each  Class  in  every  100  Miles  traveled,  and  the 
Share  contributed  by  each  Class  to  every  .£100  Receipts  on  the  Bel- 
gian Railways  during  the  Four  Years  ending  December  31,  1847. 

Number  of  passengers  of  each  I 
class  in  every  100  booked  .  1 

Share  of  each  class  in  every  I 
100  miles  traveled                 ] 

Year. 

1st  class. 

2d  class. 

3d  class'. 

Totals. 

1844 
1845 
1846 
1847 

10-75 
11-50 
.11-36 
11-22 

27-66 
28-20 
28-36 
24-64 

61-59 
60-30 
60-28 
64-14 

52-10 
48-54 
48-90 
51-10 

100 
100 
100 
100 

100 
100 
100 

100 

1844 
1845 
1846 
1847 

17-40 
18-60 
17-27 

18-80 

30-50 
32-86 
32-60 
30-10 

Average  amount  contributed  f 
by  each  passenger  to  every  J. 
£  100  of  receipts 

1844 
1845 
1846 
1847 

26 
27 
28 
28 

36 

37 
36 
34 

38 
36 
36 
38 

100 
100 
100 
100 

quantity  of  each  class  of  objects  of  traffic  booked  which  have 
been  carried  to  distances  within  certain  assigned  limits. 

These  voluminous  tables  have  supplied  me  with  the  means  of 
computing  the  number  of  units  booked  which  were  carried  over 
distances  under  20  miles,  between  20  and  40  miles,  40  and  60 
miles,  and  so  on.  I  have  also  given,  in  the  following  table,  the 
quantity  of  locomotion  which  each  class  of  such  obj  ects  demanded : 


TABULAR  ANALYSIS  of  the  Traffic  on  the  Belgian  Railways,  classified' 
according  to  the  Distances  over'which  the  Objects  of  Transport  were 
severally  carried,  showing  the  Proportion  of  1000  Objects  booked  of 
each  Class  which  was  carried  over  each  specified  Distance,  and  also 
showing  the  Proportion  per  1000  of  the  Mileage  of  each  Class  assign- 
able to  each  specified  Distance. 

Passengers  : 
1st  class. 
Number 
Mileage 

2d  class. 
Number 
Mileage 

3d  class. 
Number 
Mileage 

Total. 
Number 
Mileage 

Under 
20 
Miles. 

20  to 
40. 

From 
40  to 
60. 

From 
60  to 
80. 

From 
80  to 
100. 

Above 
100. 

Total. 

-  253 

79 

349 

253 

174 
204 

130 
231 

77 
174 

17 
59. 

1000 
1000 

411 
167' 

345 
328 

128 
198 

75 

175 

34 
100 

•7 
32 

1000 
1000 

510 
237 

303 
329 

100 

176 

63 
171 

20-2 
68 

3-8 
19 

1000 
1000 

392 
161 

332 
303 

134 
193 

89 
192 

44 

114 

9 

57 

1000 
1000 

362 


RAILWAY  ECONOMY. 


[CHAP.  XVII. 


Under 

From 

From 

From 

From 

A  bo  ve 

* 

20 

20  to 

40  to 

CO  to 

80  to 

JOO. 

Total. 

Miles. 

40. 

60. 

80. 

100. 

Baggage  —  Tons. 
Number 

257 

315 

125 

158 

113 

32 

1000 

Mileage 

69 

207 

135 

256 

234 

99 

1000 

Parcels—  Tons. 

Number 

247 

304 

170 

154 

84 

41 

1000 

Mileage. 

.     72 

201 

182 

249 

174 

122 

1000 

Carriages. 

Number 

71 

268 

196 

175 

206 

84 

1000 

Mileage 

15 

125 

156 

207 

310 

187 

1000 

Horses. 

Number 

24 

133 

144 

534 

122 

43 

1000 

Mileage 

5 

55 

101 

593 

167 

79 

1000 

Goods—  Tons. 

Number 

343 

289 

108 

135 

113 

12 

1000 

Mileage 

108 

206 

138 

243 

266 

39 

1000 

Cattle  (large)—  Head. 

i 

Number 

353 

301 

135 

303 

8 

0 

1000 

Mileage 

77 

203 

160 

542 

18 

0 

1000 

Cattle  (small)—  Head. 

Number 

137 

316 

386 

156 

3 

2 

1000 

Mileage 

45 

220 

456 

265 

7 

7 

1000 

This  table  supplies  some  curious  and  important  inferences, 
which  are  probably  applicable  more  or  less  to  all  railway  traffic  ; 
but  we  have  no  means  of  testing  this,  owing  to  the  insufficiency 
of  the  official  reports  of  other  railways. 

It  appears  that  40  per  cent,  of  all  the  passengers  booked  are 
for  distances  under  20  miles,  and  that  73  per  cent,  are  for  dis- 
tances under  40  miles. 

Those  who  are  booked  for  distances  under  20  miles  employ 
16  per  cent,  of  the  mileage,  and  those  who  are  booked  for  dis- 
tances under  40  miles  employ  46  per  cent,  of  all  the  mileage. 

It  further  appears  that  only  5  per  cent,  of  all  the  passengers 
booked  travel  distances  above  80  miles,  and  that  they  together 
supply  only  17  per  cent,  of  the  mileage. 

With  respect  to  goods,  conclusions  very  nearly  similar  follow. 
3  t  par  cent,  of  the  goods  booked  are  carried  distances  under  20 
miles,  while  63  per  cent,  are  carried  distances  under  40  miles. 
Those  which  are  carried  distances  under  20  miles  employ,  how- 
ever, less  than  11  per  cent,  of  the  mileage,  while  those  carried 
^  di?tnaces  under  40  miles  employ  only  31  per  cent.  It  further 


CHAP.  XVII.] 


BELGIAN  KAILWAYS. 


363 


follows,  that  only  12  per  cent,  of  all  the  goods  booked  are  car- 
ried distances  above  80  miles,  but  that  this  quantity  employs  30 
per  cent,  of  the  mileage  of  the  railways. 

The  class  of  objects  which  are  carried  the  greatest  distances, 
and  which  employ  the  greatest  amount  of  mileage,  are  horses. 
Of  these  50  per  cent,  are  carried  distances  from  60  to  80  miles, 
and  employ  60  per  cent,  of  the  mileage. 

The  larger  class  of  cattle  are  also  carried  to  considerable 
distances,  30  per  cent,  being  carried  to  distances  from  60  to  80 
miles,  employing  54  per  cent,  of  the  mileage. 

The  proportions  in  which  the  different  classes  of  traffic  con- 
tributed to  the  revenue  of  the  Belgian  railways  is  exhibited  in 
the  following  table : 


TABLE  showing  the  Share  of  every  .£100  of  gross  Revenue  contributed 
by  each  Class  of  ^Traffic  on  the  Belgian  Railways,  during  the  Four 
Years  ending  December  31,  1847. 

1844. 

1845. 

1846. 

1847. 

55 
3-5 

51-5 
3-4 

51-0 
3-5 

47-0 
3-5 

Baggage  ...  

Money  parcels 
Carriages  

58-5 
0-3 
1-8 
1-1 
8-0 
29-6 
0-7 

54-9 
03 
1-6 
0-7 
8-1 
33-7 
0-7 

54-5 
0-3 
1-5 
0-7 
7-3 
34-6 
1-1 

50-5 
0-3 
1-2 
0-7 
7-1 
39-2 
1-0 

Parcels  
Goods 

Sundries  
Total... 

41-5 
100-0 

45-1 
100-0 

45-5 
100-0 

49-5 
100-0 

In  the  following  table  I  have  exhibited  the  proportion  of  every 
cf  100  expended,  which  has  been  chargeable  to  the  usual  heads 
of  direction,  way  and  works,  locomotive  power,  carrying  ex- 
penses, and  sundries  : 


ANALYSIS  of  the  Proportion  in  which  the  working  Expenses  of  the  Bel- 
gian Railways  were  distributed,  under  the  specified  Heads,  in  the 
Four  Years  ending  1847. 

Year  1844 
„      1815 
„      1846 
„      1847 

Mean 

Direction 
and 
Manage- 
ment. 

Mainte- 
nance of 
Way  and 
Works. 

Locomotive 
Power. 

Carrying 
Expenses. 

Collection 
and 
Sundries. 

Total. 

6-3 
6-5 
5-4 
3-7 

24-3 
25-7 
25-1 
31-4 

49-3 
48-7 
51-7 
50-1 

16-6 
15-7 
14-6 
12-3 

3-5 
3-4 
3-2 
2-5 

100 
100 
100 
100 

5-47 

26-62      |       49-96 

14-80 

3-15       I    100 

364 


RAILWAY  ECONOMY. 


[CHAP.  XVII. 


Finally,  I  have  compared  in  the  following  table  the  receipts, 
expenses,  and  profits  with  the  length  of  the  lines,  the  movement 
upon  them,  and  the  capital  invested  in  them : 


SYNOPSIS  of  the  Proportion  between  the  Receipts,  Expenses,  and  Profits, 
and  the  Length  of  Line  worked,  the  Movement  of  the  Trains,  and  the 
Amount  of  Capital  on  the  Belgian  Railways  during  the  Seven  Years 
ending  December  31,  1847. 

Year  1841. 
Receipts  
Expenses  

Profits  

Total  average 
laily  Amount. 

Amount  per 
Mile  of 
Railway.     , 

Amount  per 
Mile  run  by 
Trains. 

Amount  p«r 
Cent,  of 
Capital. 

£. 

683 

498 

£. 
3-25 
2-37 

s.    d. 
5     4 
3  11 

6-56 

4-78 

185 

0-88                  1     5                  1-78          | 

Year  1842. 
Receipts  
Expenses  

Profits  . 

820 
516 

3-33 
2-10 

6     0 
3     9^ 

6-72 
4-24 

304 

1-23 

2     2* 

2/48 

Year  1843. 
Receipts  
Expenses  

Profits 

994 
602 

3-31 

2-00 

6     3 
3  10 

6-G8 
4-05 

392 

1-31 

2     5 

2-63 

Year  1844. 
Receipts  
Expenses  

Profits  » 

1234 
634 

3-50 
1-80 

5     9J. 
3     0 

7-20 
3-71 

600 

1-70 

2     9£ 

.  3-49 

Year  1845. 
Receipts  
Expenses  

Profits 

1363 
694 

3-90 
2-00 

5  11 
3     0 

7-95 
4-05 

669 

1-90 

2  11 

3-90 

Year  1846. 
Receipts  
Expenses.  i. 

Profits  

Year  1847. 
Receipts  
Expenses.  .. 

Profits  

1500 
796 

4-30 
2-30 

5     5 
2  11 

8-75 
4-65 

704 

2-00 

2    6 

4-10 

1630 
1022 

4-6 
2-9 

5    0 
3     I} 

9-32 
5-85 

612 

1-7 

1  10& 

3-47 

It  appears  from  this  table,  therefore,  that  the  gross  receipts 
have  never  exceeded  8  per  cent,  on  the  capital,  and  the  net 
profits  have  never  exceeded  4  per  cent. 


CHAP.  XVII.] 


BELGIAN  RAILWAYS. 


365 


To  exhibit  the  average  speed  on  the  Belgian  railways,  I  have 
calculated  in  the  following  table,  from  the  published  time-tablea, 
the  rate  of  progress  on  several  of  the  principal  lines ;  showing, 
as  in  former  chapters,  the  average  speed  when  in  actual  motion, 
and  the  reduction  of  this  produced  by  the  stoppages.  It  appears 
that  the  average  speed  in  actual  motion,  one  line  taken  with 
another,  is  25  miles,  and  that  the  average  speed  including  stop- 
pages is  18  miles. 

We  have  seen  in  Chap.  X.,  that  on  the  English  railways  the 
average  speed  in  motion  is  32  miles,  and  the  average  speed 
including  stoppages,  24i  miles. 


TABULAR  ANALYSIS  of  the  Movement  of  the  Passenger  Traffic  on  the  prin- 
cipal Belgian  Lines  of  Railway,  showing  the  average  Speed,  Stoppages, 
&c.,  of  each  Class  of  Trains.—  N.B.  An  average  LossofFive  Minutes 
is  allowed  for  each  Stoppage,  except  in  particular  Cases  where  a  greater 
Delay  is  fixed  by  the  Programme.    This  is  intended  to  include  the  Time 
lost  in  coming  to  Rest  and  getting  up  Speed. 

Name  of  Railway. 

Train. 

Distances 
traveled. 

Time. 

No.  of 
Stop- 
pages. 

7 
9 
13 
22 
9 
19 
16 
Jl 
19 
3 
3 
5 

136 

Average 

&- 

Stoppages. 

•2 

excluding 
Stoppages. 

Miltt. 

27-90 
27-80 
21-00 
2200 
24-20 
25-40 
22-90 
22-50 
29-00 
30-00 
27-33 
33-00 

24-90 

Brussels  to  Valencien- 

1st  class 
3d  class 
3d  class 

1st  class 
2d  class 
1st  class 
2<1  class 
3d  class 
1st  class 
2d  class 
3d  class 

Mila. 

57-75 
57-75 
57-75 
149 
86-50 
86-50 
67-50 
67-50 
67-50 
27-33 
27-33 
27-33 

779:74~ 

It,    m. 

2  35 
2  50 
3  50 
9  15 
4  30 
5  0 
3  45 
3  50 
3  55 
1  10 
1  15 
1  15 

43  10~~ 

Milet. 

22-45 
2040 
15-12 
16-10 
19-20 
17-30 
18-00 
17-65 
17-30 
23-55 
21-85 
21-85 

18-10 

Bru's'sels  to  Cologne.  .  . 
Brussels  to  Verviers  .  .  . 

Brussels  to  JN'amur  
Brussels  to  Antwerp.  . 

In  the  present  chapter  our  observations  have  been  limited  to 
the  system  of  Belgian  railways  constructed  and  worked  by  the 
State.  There  are,  however,  besides  these,  a  few  lines  in  pro- 
gress of  construction  in  Belgium  by  private  companies. 

A  grant  for  ninety  years  has  been  made  to  a  company  under 
the  title  of  the  "Great  Luxembourg  Railway  Company,"  for 
the  construction  of  a  line  of  railway  joining  the  State  railway 
near  Charleroi  and  Namur,  to  be  carried  across  the  extensive 
province  of  Luxembourg  by  Dinant,  Neufchateau,  and  Arbon, 
and  to  be  extended  to  Thionville  and  Metz,  where  it  will  join 
the  Paris  and  Strasbourg  Railway.  The  entire  length  of  this 
system,  when  completed,  will  be  about  140  miles. 


366  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XVII. 

The  canal  and  mineral  property  of  the  Luxembourg  Society 
has  been  purchased  by  this  company  for  c€260,000.  The  canal 
was  intended  to  connect  the  Moselle  with  the  Meuse,  passing 
through  a  district  rich  in  minerals,  and  covered  with  extensive 
forests. 

With  the  exception  of  the  earth-work  on  about  ten  miles  of 
the  line  from  Brussels  to  Wavre,  no  progress  has  yet  been  made 
in  the  realization  of  this  project. 

A  grant  for  ninety  years  has  been  made  to  another  company 
for  a  line  of  railway  between  Namur  and  Liege,  following  the 
valley  of  the  Meuse,  with  a  branch  from  Mons  to  Manage.  The 
length  of  the  main  line  will  be  about  forty-four  miles,  and  that 
of  the  branch  twenty-two  miles. 

This  railway  is  in  progress  of  construction,  and  the  branch 
between  Mons  and  Manage  is  expected  soon  to  be  opened  for 
traffic. 

The  Sambre  and  Meuse  Railway  Company  have  a  grant  for 
ninety  years  for  a  line  joining  the  Sambre  with  the  Meuse  at 
Vereux.  The  entire  length  of  the  line,  with  three  short 
branches,  will  be  about  seventy  miles,  of  which  twenty-five 
miles  have  been  completed,  and  were  lately  opened  for  traffic. 

The  Tournai  and  Joubise,  and  Landen  and  Hasselt  Company, 
have  a  grant  for  ninety  years.  The  length  of  the  two  lines 
together  is  forty-six  miles.  They  are  completed  and  opened 
for  traffic. 

The  West  Flanders  Company  have  a  grant  for  ninety  years 
for  a  system  of  railways  in  that  province.  One  line  will  pass 
from  Bruges  to  Courtrai,  Ypres,  and  Poperinghe,  passing  by 
Thourout,  Howlers,  and  Menin,  and  forming  at  Courtrai  a 
junction  with  the  State  line  from  Ghent  to  Lille  and  Tournai. 
The  second  line  will  run  from  Fumes  through  the  centre  of 
West  Flanders  to  Thiels,  where  it  will  join  the  State  line  from 
Antwerp  to  Brussels. 

Of  these  lines  thirty-three  miles  are  opened  for  traffic,  the 
remaining  sixty  miles  not  being  yet  commenced. 

Thus  the  entire  system  of  Belgian  railways  in  operation  is  as 
follows : 

Miles. 

State  lines 353 

Sarabre  and  Meuse •. .      25 

Tournai  and  Joubise,  and  Landen  and  Hasselt ...      46 
West  Flanders 33 

Total...  ..   457 


CHAP.  XVIII.]  FRENCH  RAILWAYS.  367 

I  have  not  been  able  to  obtain  any  authentic  information  as 
to  the  cost  of  the  liries  constructed  by  companies;  but  if  their 
average  cost  be  assumed  to  be  equal  to  that  of  the  State  linos, 
which,  as  we  have  seen,  is  d£18,016  per  mile,  the  total  capital 
absorbed  by  the  Belgian  railways  must  be  <£8,233,312. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

FRENCH    RAILWAYS. 

BEFORE  the  memorable  epoch  when  the  experiment  of  the 
Manchester  and  Liverpool  Railway  rendered  manifest  the  vast 
capabilities  of  iron  roads  worked  by  steam'  power  as  means  of 
general  transport,  no  communication  of  that  description  existed 
in  France,  except  a  few  lines  appropriated  exclusively  to  the 
mineral  districts  of  St.  Etienne  and  the  Rive-de-Gier,  near  tho 
banks  of  the  Loire.  These  lines  were  analogous  to  the  rail- 
ways which  existed  from  an  early  date  in  the  north  of  England  ; 
their  extent  was  inconsiderable,  and  they  were  for  the  most 
part  single  lines,  worked  generally  by  horses,  but  in  some  cases 
by  locomotive  engines  of  the  rudest  kind,  such  as  those  formerly 
used  on  our  mineral  lines. 

When  the  wonderful  effects  developed  between  Manchester 
and  Liverpool  became  known,  and  when  the  execution  of  more 
extensive  lines  of  railway  for  the  expeditious  transport  of  pas- 
sengers and  merchandise  had  been  undertaken  in  England,  the 
attention  of  all  parts  of  Europe  was  awakened  to  this  improve- 
ment ;  but  a  general  incredulity  prevailed  as  to  its  practicability^, 
except  in  localities  where  traffic  and  intercourse  existed  on  'a 
very  large  scale.  France,  sharing  this  skepticism,  remained 
passive,  while  the  neighboring  small  state  of  Belgium  was  over- 
spreading her  territory  with  that  admirable  network  of  commu- 
nication we  have  described  in  the  preceding  chapter. 

At  length,  in  1835,  five  years  after  the  opening  of  the  Liver- 
pool and  Manchester  Railway,  and  when  other  great  lines  were 
known  to  be  in  active  progress  in  England,  a  spirited  and  enter- 
prising person,  whose  name  must  always  remain  connected  with 
the  history  of  French  railways,  M.  Emile  Pereire,  deeply  im- 
pressed with  the  advantages  which  must  arise  from  this  improve- 
ment in  transport,  and  desiring  to  bring  its  effects,  hitherto 


368  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  CHAP.  XVIII. 

known  only  by  hearsay,  under  the  very  eyes  of  the  French 
legislature  and  of  the  population  of  Paris,  succeeded  in  forming 
a  company  for  the  construction  of  a  passenger  line  between 
Paris  and  St.  Germain.  An  act  authorizing  this  was  obtained 
in  July,  1835.  The  works  were  commenced  and  prosecuted 
with  activity,  and  it  was  finally  opened  for  traffic  at  the  end  of 
1837. 

This  event,  combined  with  the  rapid  progress  of  railways  in 
England,  forced  the  French  legislature  to  direct  a  portion  of  its 
attention,  hitherto  distracted  by  political  dissensions  and  the  con- 
vulsions which  followed  the  revolution  of  1830,  to  this  national 
improvement. 

In  the  session  of  1837,  a  commission  was  authorized  to  prepare 
a  project  of  law  on  the  subject  of  national  railways,  which  was 
to  be  submitted  to  the  Chambers  in  the  following  session  ;  and 
it  was  generally  understood  and  agreed  that  the  construction 
of  railways  was  urgent,  and  that  the  most  important  lines 
should  be  executed  and  possessed  by  the  State,  but  that  the 
branches  and  secondary  lines  might  be  conceded  to  private  com- 
panies. 

The  report  of  the  commission  presented  to  the  Chamber  on 
the  opening  of  the  following  session  of  1838,  was  in  accordance 
with  these  resolutions ;  but,  in  the  mean  while,  the  majority  had 
changed  its  opinion,  and  was  now  opposed  to  the  principle  of 
the  State  assuming  the  direction  and  management  of  these 
enterprises.  The  government,  nevertheless,  still  adhered  to  the 
original  project,  and  was  supported  by  the  parties  which  then 
usually  constituted  the  opposition,  and  was  known  as  the  Left 
and  Extreme  Left  of  the  Chamber.  The  parties  of  the  Centre 
and  the  Left  Centre,  distrustful  and  jealous  of  the  influence 
with  which  the  possession  of  vast  patronage  must  invest  the 
government,  opposed  the  project. 

This  section  of  the  Chamber  was  seconded  in  its  opposition 
by  a  large  and  influential  party  representing  the  financial  and 
commercial  interests,  which  looked  forward  to  reaping  consider- 
able profits  from  the  operations  of  the  Bourse  resulting  from  the 
traffic  in  shares,  if  the  railways  were  executed,  as  in  England, 
by  joint-stock  companies.  The  combination  of  these  parties 
prevailed,  and  the  project  of  government  was  rejected. 

During  the  next  four  years,  little  or  no  progress  was  made  ; 
parties  continued  to  be  distracted,  and  the  question  of  the  East 
especially  engrossed  the  attention  of  statesmen. 

In  this  interval,  however,  private  companies  came  forward 


CHAP.  XVIII.]  FRENCH  RAILWAYS.  369 

and  proposed  to  construct  railways  by  their  own  resources, 
independent  of  the  government,  between  Paris  and  Orleans  and 
Paris  and  Rouen. 

In  1838  a  grant  was  made  to  a  company  of  a  lease  of  seventy 
years,  on  the  condition  of  providing  a  capital  of  forty  millions  for 
the  construction  of  a  line  of  railway  from  Paris  to  Orleans,  with 
branches  to  Corbeil,  Pithiviers,  and  Arpajon.  The  company, 
however,  had  no  sooner  commenced  their  operations,  than  they 
found  themselves  involved  in  financial  embarrassments,  and 
were  compelled  later  to  obtain  the  authorization  of  the  legislature 
to  abandon  their  branches,  except  that  to  Corbeil.  In  fine,  the 
government  assisted  them  by  guaranteeing  an  interest  of  four 
per  cent,  on  their  capital  for  forty-seven  years,  and  extending 
their  lease  to  ninety-nine  years.  Thus  aided,  the  enterprise 
was  prosecuted,  and  the  railway  finally  completed. 

Two  companies  proposed  the  construction  of  lines  from  Paris 
to  Rouen  :  one  by  the  right  bank  of  the  Seine,  and  the  other  by 
the  plateau  above  it.  A.  grant  was  first  made  to  the  latter  in 
1838;  but  the  financial  crisis  which  ensued  rendered  the  project 
abortive.  At  length,  in  1840,  the  project  of  a  line  by  the  right 
bank  of  the  Seine  was  resumed,  and  a  grant  was  made  to  the 
present  Paris  and  Rouen  Railway  Company,  with  a  lease  of 
ninety-nine  years,  the  result  being  the  present  railway,  which, 
having  been  commenced  in  1841,  was  opened  for  traffic  on  the 
9th  May,  1843. 

In  1842,  M.  Teste,  then  Minister  of  PubHc  Works,  presented 
a  project  to  the  Chambers  for  the  execution  of  a  system  of  rail- 
ways in  which  the  government  should  co-operate  with  private 
companies.  This  project,  with  some  modification,  was  finally 
adopted,  and  the  law  known  as  that  of  the  "llth  of  June,  1842," 
was  passed. 

This  law  proposed  a  certain  system  of  trunk  lines  to  be 
executed  by  companies  on  conditions  to  be  imposed  by  the  State. 
These  conditions  were  as  follow : 

1st.  The  government  was  to  purchase  the  lands,  buildings, 
and  other  property  necessary  for  the  construction  of  the  lines ; 
two-thirds  of  the  expense  to  be  paid  by  the  departments  and 
communes  through  which  the  railways  would  pass,  and  the 
remaining  one-third  by  the  State. 

2dly.  Leases  of  the  railways  were  to  be  granted  for  limited 

periods  to  companies,  who  were  to  be  required  to  provide  the 

capital  necessary  to  defray  the  expenses  of  the  way  and  works, 

the  rolling-stock,  and  all  the  material  necessary  for  the  working 

Q* 


370  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XVIII. 

of  the  lines.  At  the  expiration  of  their  leases,  provided  they 
were  not  renewed,  a  valuation  was  to  be  made  of  this  property, 
and  the  amount  of  such  valuation  to  be  paid  to  the  companies  by 
the  State. 

The  police  of  the  roads,  the  limitation  of  the  tariff,  and  a 
general  power  of  supervision  and  control,  were  reserved  to  the 
government,  which  was  to  appoint  agents  to  represent  it,  and  to 
form  part  of  the  administration  of  each  railway,  the  salary  of 
such  functionaries  to  be  paid  by  the  companies. 

The  system  of  railways,  the  construction  of  which  was  con- 
templated by  this  law,  was  to  consist  of  seven  principal  arteries 
— the  first  directed  upon  the  Belgian  frontier;  the  second  upon 
one  or  more  ports  of  the  channel;  the  third  upon  the  ocean,  by 
one  or  more  of  the  western  ports;  the  fourth  upon  the  Spanish 
frontier,  by  Bayonne ;  the  fifth  upon  the  Spanish  frontier,  by 
Perpignan,  passing  through  the  centre  of  France  ;  the  sixth  upon 
the  Mediterranean,  by  Marseilles ;  and  the  seventh  upon  the 
Rhine,  by  Nancy  and  Strasbourg. 

Besides  these,  two  trunk  lines  were  contemplated,  diverging 
from  Marseilles  ;  one  connecting  that  port  with  Bordeaux  by 
Toulouse,  and  the  other  connecting  it  with  the  Rhine  at  Mul- 
hausen,  by  Dijon  and  Lyons. 

This  law  had  not  long  been  promulgated,  before  it  became 
manifest  that  capital  would  not  flow  so  freely  and  abundantly  to 
the  French  railways  as  the  legislature  appeared  to  expect ;  and 
that  even  with  conditions  modified  in  favor  of  those  who  should 
undertake  the  execution  and  working  of  the  lines  thus  projected, 
no  small  difficulty  was  likely  to  stand  in  the  way  of  the  accom- 
plishment of  the  object  which  the  government  and  the  legislature 
contemplated.  The  departments  and  the  communes,  already 
oppressed  under  a  heavy  burden  of  taxation,  had  neither  the 
ability  nor  the  will  to  co-operate  in  the  enterprise,  by  the  con- 
tribution of  two-thirds,  or  even  a  much  smaller  part  of  the  cost 
of  the  land.  In  short,  it  became  evident  that  the  law  was  im- 
practicable ;  and,  although  not  subsequently  repealed,  it  became 
eventually,  in  a  great  degree,  a  dead  letter. 

Although  the  general  outline  of  the  system  of  trunk  lines 
described  in  the  law  of  1842  has  been  in  the  main  adhered  to, 
the  government  has  been  forced  to  lay  aside  other  conditions  of 
the  law,  and  to  make  the  best  terms  it  could  with  such  companies 
as  presented  themselves,  to  induce  them  to  undertake  and  work 
the  railways;  and  even,  in  some  cases,  it  has  been  found  im- 
practicable to  accomplish  this  through  the  medium  of  private 


CHAP.  XVIII.]  FREiNCH  RAILWAYS.  371 

companies,  and  the  government  has  been  obliged  to  construct 
the  lines  provisionally,  trusting  to  the  probability  of  finding  a 
company  willing  to  work  them  when  completed. 

The  first  great  artery  of  the  system  is  that  now  known  as  the 
Northern  Railway.  This  line,  issuing  from  the  northern  sub- 
urbs of  Paris,  goes  directly  to  Amiens,  following  the  valleys  of 
the  rivers,  such  as  the  Oise,  the  Breche,  the  Are,  the  Somme, 
which  run  north  and  south.  From  Amiens  the  line  is  carried 
to  Douay.  where  it  forks;  one  branch  being  directed  by  Valen- 
ciennes to  the  Belgian  frontier  at  Quievrain,  and  the  other  by 
Lille  to  Calais,  a  sub-branch  being  carried  from  Hazebrouk  to 
Dunkerque. 

A  branch  is  also  in  progress  from  Creil,  a  place  between  Paris 
and  Beauvais,  to  St.  Quentin,  by  Compiegne.  This  line  was 
executed  and  nearly  completed  by  the  government,  through  the 
agency  of  the  department  of  the  Ponts  et  Chaussees;  and  being 
that  part  of  the  system  projected  in  the  law  of  1842,  which  was 
attended  with  the  most  promising  commercial  results,  it  was 
found  that,  when  it  was  proposed  to  offer  this  line  to  public  com- 
petition, terms  highly  advantageous  to  the  government  could  be 
obtained. 

In  fine,  it  was  granted  in  September,  1845,  to  the  present 
company,  upon  a  lease  of  thirty-eight  years,  the  company  agree- 
ing to  provide  all  the  expenses  necessary  for  the  establishment 
of  the  railway,  and  to  reimburse  all  the  expenses  which  had 
been  previously  incurred  in  its  construction. 

Connected  with  this  railway,  was  the  line  extending  from 
Amiens  to  Boulogne,  which  was  constructed  by  a  private  com- 
pany, on  a  lease  of  ninety-nine  years. 

Two  short  lines  had  been  previously  constructed  and  opened 
for  traffic,  connecting  Paris  with  Versailles;  the  one  by  the 
right,  and  the  other  by  the  left  bank  of  the  Seine. 

In  carrying  out  the  system  defined  in  the  law  of  1842,  these 
lines  were  adopted  as  the  first  section  of  the  artery  of  com- 
munication intended  to  be  carried  through  Brittany  to  the 
port  of  Brest.  It  was  accordingly  proposed  to  continue  this 
western  line,  by  Chartres,  Laval,  and  Kennes,  to  the  ocean  at 
Brest. 

No  company  having  proposed  to  execute  it,  the  government 
proceeded  provisionally  to  construct  it,  through  the  agency  of 
the  department  of  the  Ponts  et  Chaussees. 

The  section  from  Versailles  to  Chartres  has  been  completed, 
and  recently  opened  for  traffic.  It  is  worked  by  the  govern- 


S72  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XVIII. 

merit.     The  remaining  sections  of  the  line  beyond  Chartres  are 
in  progress. 

The  Paris  and  Orleans  Railway,  which  had  been  previously 
conceded  to,  and  nearly  completed  by  a  company,  was  adopted 
as  the  first  stage  of  the  two  lines  of  communication  intended 
to  be  carried  from  the  capital  to  the  Spanish  frontier.  From 
Orleans  it  was  proposed  to  carry  one  of  these  lines,  by  Tours, 
Poitiers,  and  Angouleme,  to  Bordeaux,  and  from  thence  to 
Bayonne. 

This  line,  from  Orleans  to  Bordeaux,  is  in  process  of  execu- 
tion by  the  State.  The  first  section,  from  Orleans  to  Tours, 
71-5  miles  in  length,  has  been  completed,  and  is  now  in  oper- 
ation. The  entire  line  has  been  leased  to  a  company  for  a 
period  of  twenty-eight  years,  on  the  conditions  of  completing 
the  road  structure,  and  supplying  the  rolling  stock  and  all  the 
requisites  for  working  the  line. 

With  a  view  to  establish  a  railway  communication  between 
the  centre  of  France,  and  the  coal  and  manufacturing  districts 
north  of  Lyons,  on  the  banks  of  the  Loire,  it  was  proposed  to 
construct  a  railway  communication  extending  directly  from 
those  districts  to  the  port  of  Nantes,  intersecting  the  great 
southern  line  at  Tours.  No  progress  has,  however,  been  made 
in  this  project  east  of  Tours.  The  line  from  Tours  to  Nantes 
has  been  constructed  by  the  government,  and  the  section  from 
Tours  to  Angers  is  now  open  for  traffic,  having  beea  leased  to 
a.  company  for  thirty-four  years,  on  terms  similar  ta  those  on 
which  the  grant  has  been  made  to  the  company  of  ©rieans  and 
Bordeaux.  The  other  section,  from  Angers  to  Nantes,  is  in 
Sprogress,  and  will  be  worked  by  the  same  company  when  com- 
pleted. 

A.  branch  of  the  southern  trunk  line  was  contemplated,  to 
iraied  by  Niort  to  Rochefort  from  Poitiers  and  La    Ro- 
fcut  this  has  not  Tieen  conceded,  or  even  commenced, 
ntinuation  of  this  southern  trunk  from  Bordeaux  to- 
ne rfitill  exists  merely  in  contemplation. 

-.tion  of  the  great  Centre  railway  intended  to  be 
+8  to  Perpignan  is  completed  and  in  -eperation. 
eaces  at  Orleans,  and  is  carried  by  Vierzon 
0>~  ^aisee  of  90  milea,  and  is  now  in  operation. 

*-  *  Vierzon,  .which  proceeds  eastward  by 

a-' '  -^  "  interiwtHtaihe  .continued  to  Ne  vers, 

rotf*'    ^  to  Neronde  ig^£:irilh»  in  length, 


CHAP.  XVIII.]  FRENCH    RAILWAYS.  373 

Great  financial  difficulties  have  been  encountered  in  execu- 
ting the  southern  trunk  line  from  Paris  to  Marseilles.  The 
section  from  Paris  to  Tonnerre,  by  Fontainbleau  and  Montereau, 
consisting  of  122  miles,  has  been  recently  completed,  and  is 
now  open  for  traffic. 

The  section  from  Tonnerre  to  Dijon,  consisting  of  90  miles, 
is  in  progress,  and  will  speedily  be  completed.  The  section 
from  Dijon  to  Chalons-sur-Saone,  consisting  of  43  miles,  is 
completed,  and  under  traffic. 

The  section  from  Chalons  by  Macon  to  Lyons  is  in  progress. 
The  company  to  whom  the  line  from  Paris  to  Lyons  was  orig- 
inally conceded,  on  a  tease  of  forty-one  years,  sinking  under 
financial  embarrassments,  the  Constituent  Assembly,  after  the 
revolution  of  February,  1848,  passed  a  law  decreeing  the  line 
the  property  of  the  State,  and  offering  shareholders  certain  com- 
pensation in  government  stock.  This  has  been  followed  by 
various  negotiations,  which  are  still  in  progress,  and  which  will 
probably  end  in  the  establishment  of  a  new  company  on  new 
conditions. 

The  continuation  of  this  southern  trunk  line  from  Lyons  to 
Avignon  was  granted  to  a  company  who,  finding  themselves  in- 
volved in  financial  embarrassments,  resolved  in  1847,  to  wind  up 
their  affairs,  return  the  funds  to  the  shareholders,  and  forfeit 
the  deposit  which  had  been  made  to  the  government,  and  the 
expenses  incurred.  Nothing  has  since  been  done  with  this 
section  of  the  line,  and  the  government  is  now  negotiating  with 
companies  to  include  it  with  the  line  from  Paris  to  Lyons  under 
the  same  contract. 

This  section  will  consist  of  about  150  miles. 

The  last  section  of  the  Marseilles  line  between  Avignon  and 
Marseilles,  granted  to  a  company  under  a  lease  of  thirty-three 
years,  has  been  completed  and  open  for  traffic,  the  chief  part  of 
the  cost  of  construction  having  been  defrayed  by  the  State. 

A  branch  of  this  line,  15  miles  in  length,  is  in  progress  from 
Rognac  to  Aix.  The  total  length  of  the  line  from  Avignon  to 
Marseilles  now  in  operation  is  78  miles. 

The  line  connecting  Paris  and  Strasbourg  has  been  under- 
taken by  the  State,  and  is  now  completed  and  in  operation,  as 
far  as  Chalons-sur-Marne,  a  distance  of  107  miles.  The  next 
section,  from  Chalons  to  Nancy,  making  a  total  distance  of  144 
miles,  will  probably  be  in  operation  before  the  end  of  1851.  The 
remainder  of  the  line  from  Nancy  to  Strasbourg,  as  well  as  the 
branches  from  Epernay  to  Rheims,  and  from  Frouard  to  For- 


374 


RAILWAY    ECONOMY. 


[CHAP.  XVIII. 


bach  are  in  progress  anfl  in  a  forward  state.  The  total  length 
of  this  trunk  line  and  branches  will,  when  completed,  be  410 
miles. 

This  line  has  been  leased  to  a  company  for  forty-four  years, 
on  conditions  similar  to  those  already  explained  for  the  Centre 
line  and  the  Orleans  and  Bordeaux  ;  the  company  undertaking, 
however,  the  construction  of  the  branch  from  Frouard  to  For- 
bach,  76  miles,  at  an  expense  of  661,680,000. 

Of  the  lines  contemplated  to  connect  Marseilles  with  Bordeaux 
and  the  Rhine,  nothing  has  been  done. 

The  connection  between  Marseilles  and  the  Rhine  will  be 
effected  as  far  as  Dijon  by  the  great  southern  railway  already 
mentioned.  A  branch  is  contemplated  from  Dijon  by  Besan9on, 
to  unite  with  the  Strasbourg  and  Basle  Railway  at  Mulhausen. 
Respecting  this  branch,  however,  nothing  has  been  done. 

Besides  these,  which  constitute  the  principal  trunk  lines  in- 
dicated by  the  legislature,  several  detached  lines  have  been  pro- 
jected, and  some  executed  in  different  localities.  These,  how- 
ever, are  generally  short,  and  of  but  little  importance. 

The  following  table  exhibits  the  length  of  the  French  rail- 
ways, distinguishing  those  which  are  open  for  traffic,  those  which 
are  in  progress,  and  those  which  are  projected,  but  not  com- 
menced : 


TABULAR  STATEMENT  of  the  French  Railways  open,  in  Progress,  and 
projected. 

Passenger  Railways. 

NORTH  OF  FRANCE. 

Main  line  from  Paris  to  Belgian 
frontier  at  Quie  vrain  
1st  branch  . 

Lease. 

Lines. 

Dura- 

lion. 

»j 

38S 

70 
38 

25 
99 

99 
99 
97 

99 
99 

Com 

nient. 

1845 

1845 

1849 
1844 

1840 
1842 

1837 
1837 

.) 

1883 

1874 
1941 

1941 

1936 
1936 

Open. 
MUtt. 

180 
85 

25-5 
10-5 

20 

77 

85 
55 
31 

11-8 
10-5 
44 

Progress. 
Mtict. 

43 

Pro- 
jected. 

Milct. 

Sub  branch: 
Hazebroufc  to  Dunkirk'.  
Lille  to  Moscrou  
2<I  branch  : 
Creil  lo  St.  Q.uentin  

Paris  to  Rouen  
Rouen  to  Havre  

PARIS  TO  VERSAILLES. 

Right  bank.  
Left  bank  

VERSAILLES  TO  CHARTRES  

es  from  Mans  to  Caen  and  from 
Chartres  to  Alencon  

292 

CHAP.  XVIIL] 


FRENCH  RAILWAYS. 


Lease. 

Lines. 

Dura- 

me  nee- 

nation'. 

Open. 

In 

Progress. 

Pro- 
jected. 

PARIS  TO  ST.  GERMAIN  
PARIS  TO  ORLEANS. 

Paris  to  Orleans  
Corbeil  branch  

99 
99 

1835 
1838 

1934 
1937 

Milet. 
13 

75 

6-5 

Mila. 

Milet. 

Orleans  to  Tours  > 
Tours  to  Bourdeaux  > 

27 

1844 

1871  | 

71-5 

222 

Tours  to  Angers  ) 
Angers  to  Nantes  J 

CENTRE  RAILWAY. 

Orleans,  by  Vierzon,  to  Cha-  •) 

34 

1850 

1884  | 

67 

'52 

Branch.  Vierzon  to  Neronde  [ 
byBourges  j 
Chateauroux  to  Limoges  .... 

PARIS  TO  LYONS. 

1849 

1889 

142 
1°2 

85 

Tonnerre  to  Dijon  
Dijon  to  Chnlons-sur-Saone.  . 
Chalons  to  Lyons  

43 

74 

'80 

AVIGNON  TO  MARSEILLES  

Branch  to  Aix  

33 

1848 

1881 

78 

'is 

Paris  to  Ch'ilons-sur-Marne^l 

f 

106-75 

Nancy  to  Strasbourg,  with  ! 
branches  from  Epernay  to  > 
Rheims,  and  from  Frouard  | 
to  Forbach  J 

44 

1855 

" 

37-25 

2G6 

MULHAUSEN  TO  THANN  
PARIS  TO  SCEAUX  
BOURDEAUX  TO  CETTE,  With   linillf.il 

to  Castres  

CAEN    TO    ROUEN    RAILWAY    at    tWO 

points  

99 
50 

1637 
1845 

1930 
1895 

13 

7 

326 
151 

branch  to  Nevers  

101 

MONTPELIER  TO  NISMES  
LYONS  TO  ST.  ETIENNE  
ST.  ETIENNE  TO  ANDRESIETJX  

70 
12 
99 

99 

1841 
1844 

1827 

1841 

1911 
1856 
1926 

1940 

323 
32-3 
36 
13-5 
41-5 

Mineral  Lines. 

EPINAC  TO   THE    BOURGOONE   CANAL 

7 

18 
10 

COMBE  

54-5 

VILLARS-COTTERETS   TO   PORT-AUX- 

10 
5-6 

MONTPELIER  TO  CETTE  

99 

1838 

1937 

1675 
15-5 

CREUZOT  TO  CENTRE  CANAL  

6-25 
4-33 

COMMENTRY  TO  MOUTLUCON  

933 

Total 

150-26 

376 


RAILWAY  ECONOMY. 


[CHAP.  XVIII. 


It  appears  from  this  table,  that  the  following  are  the  total 
lengths  of  the  French  railways  for  the  transport  of  passengers 
and  goods,  under  traffic,  in  progress,  and  projected : 

Under  traffic 1,722  miles. 

In  progress 1,274     „ 

Total  length  open  and  in  progress 2,966     „ 

Projected,  but  not  commenced 577     „ 

Total 3,573     „ 

Besides  these,  there  are,  as  appears  by  the  above  table,  150 
miles  of  railway  -for  the  conveyance  of  coals  and  minerals,  in 
many  cases  composed  of  single  lines  of  railway  of  comparatively 
small  importance. 

It  is  difficult  to  ascertain  with  precision  the  actual  cost  of  the 
construction  of  the  French  railways,  owing  to  the  manner  in 
which  they  have  been  executed,  and  to  the  great  variety  of  ar- 
rangements which  have  been  made  between  the  government  and 
the  companies  to  which  they  have  been  leased.  In  some  cases, 
as  in  the  Northern  Railway,  the  companies  have  reimbursed,  or 
have  undertaken  to  reimburse  the  State  the  entire  expense  in- 
curred in  the  construction  of  the  line.  In  other  cases,  however, 
these  expenses  remain  to  the  charge  of  the  State,  and  the  com- 
panies undertake  to  provide  only  the  remainder  of  the  capital. 

I  have,  however,  been  able  to  ascertain,  from  the  published 
reports  of  the  railway  companies  and  from  the  official  docu- 
ments published  by  the  government,  the  actual  cost  of  con- 
struction of  the  following  lines,  with  sufficient  approximation 
to  supply  the  basis  of  a  general  average  estimate  of  the  cost 
of  the  entire  system,  completed  and  in  progress. 


SYNOPSIS  of  the  Length  and  Cost  of  Construction  of  Fifteen  of  the 
principal  French  Railways. 

Name  of  Railway. 

» 

Traffic. 

Total  Expenses  of 
Wo'rkTns's^k!1 

Average 
per  Mile. 
£. 

22,481 
20,293 
31.563 
42,269 
18,400 
62,734 
65,700 
28,525 
24,470 
20,239 
24,463 
37,10o 
20,557 
76.ri4(i 
26,385 

North                   ~                        .... 

Miiet. 
321 

77 
85 

£.. 

7,216,596 
1,562,564 
2'682  878 

Atnieris  and  Boulogne  

Rouen  and  Havre  

05 
31 
11-8 

10-5 
81-5 
71-5 
67 
142 
78 
87 
13 
36 

2,324,790 

570,440 
740,258 
690,832 
8,324,784 
1,749,628 
1,355,916 
•3,473,812 
2,894,193 
1,788,536 
996,399 
949,866 

Paris  and  Versailles  (right  bank)  
(left  bank)  . 

Centre  

Strasbourg  and  Basle  

Lyons  and  St.  Etienne  

Totals  and  averages  |  1167-3 

:n.:52l,492 

2fi..«3-J  t 

CHAP.  XVIII.]  FRENCH  RAILWAYS.  377 

Tfte  length  of  these  fifteen  lines  being  70  per  cent,  of  the  total 
length  of  the  lines  under  traffic,  and  41  per  cent,  of  the  total 
length  of  those  under  traffic  and  in  progress,  we  can  nyt  full 
into  serious  error  if  we  assume  the  average  cost  per  mile  of  this 
extent  of  1167  miles  as  a  standard  cost  for  the  whole.  This 
will  enable  us  to  compute  the  amount  of  capital  which  has  been 
absorbed  by  the  entire  system  of  lines  open,  and  the  additional 
amount  which  will  be  absorbed  by  those  which  are  in  progress 
when  completed,  as  well  as  by  those  which  are  projected,  if  they 
should  be  executed.  The  result  of  this  computation  is  as  follows  : 
Estimated  Cost  of  the  French  Passenger  Railways. 

1722  miles  open  at  d£26,832  a  mile 46,204,704 

1274  miles  in  progress  at  do 34,183,968 

80,388,672 
577  miles  projected,  out  not  commenced,  at  do.  ...   15,482,064 

<€95,870,736 

Hence  it  appears  that  the  French  lines  executed,  and  those 
likely  to  be  completed,  will  absorb  a  capital  of  more  than  eighty 
millions;  while  those  which  are  projected,  but  the  execution  of 
which  has  not  been  commenced,  will  require  nearly  fifteen 
millions  and  a  half. 

It  is  probable  that  the  estimate  of  the  cost  per  mile  which  we 
have  assumed  is  not  below  the  truth,  inasmuch  as,  among  the 
fifteen  lines  from  which  it  has  been  deduced,  there  are  some 
which  are  exceptionally  high  in  their  cost  per  mile. 

It  will  be  perceived  from  what  has  been  explained,  that  the 
French  railway  companies  stand  in  the  relation  of  tenants  or 
lessees  toward  the  state.  In  many  cases,  the  government  pro- 
ceeded with  the  construction  of  the  lines  before  a  grant  had  been 
made,  or  even  before  the  lines  were  submitted  to  competition. 
The  surveys  were  all  made,  under  the  direction  of  the  govern- 
ment, by  the  engineers  of  the  department  of  the  Fonts  et  Chaus- 
sees ;  the  earth-work  and  works  of  art  were  also  in  some  cases 
constructed,  the  iron-work  of  the  road  laid,  and,  the  buildings 
of  the  stations  erected.  In  a  word,  several  of  the  lines  were 
already  in  a  forward  state  at  the  epochs  at  which  they  were 
submitted  to  competition,  with  a  view  to  leasing  them  to  the 
companies  by  whom  they  were  to  be  worked. 

The  mode  in  which  the  government  proceeds  to  offer  the 
leases  to  public  competition  is  nearly  the  same  aa  is  customary 
with  public  contracts  in  England.  A  day  is  named  on  which 
sealed  proposals  previously  received  by  the  government  will  be 


378  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XVIII. 

opened.  The  minister  lays  on  the  table  a  sealed  paper,  in 
which  is  stated  the  maximum  duration  of  the  lease  which  the 
government  has  determined  to  grant,  and  it  is  understood  that 
the  company  which  offers  to  accept  the  line  on  the  shortest  lease 
will  receive  the  preference;  but  government  does  not  bind  itself 
to  select  the  shortest  lease  proposed,  if  other  circumstances 
appear  to  render  another  proposal  preferable. 

The  effect  of  this  system  of  competition,  combined  with  the 
railway  mania  which  prevailed  at  the  epoch  at  which  the  prin- 
cipal concessions  were  offered,  has  had  the  effect  of  greatly 
abridging  the  period  for  which  the  leases  of  some  of  the  princi- 
pal lines  have  been  granted.  Instead  of  ninety-nine  years,  which 
were  granted  to  the  earlier  companies,  the  more  recent  leases 
have  been  limited  to  periods  varying  from  thirty  to  forty  years. 

The  French  railways  in  general  have  been  opened  at  an  epoch 
comparatively  so  recent,  that  they  supply  much^more  limited 
data  for  the  calculations  of  the  average  results  of  the  movement 
of  the  traffic  upon  them  than  do  the  railways  of  Belgium  or 
those  of  the  United  Kingdom.  The  reports  published,  however, 
have  been  in  general  so  ample  as  in  some  degree  to  compensate 
for  the  brief  period  through  which  they  extend. 

The  locomotive  and  carrying  stock,  as  well  for  passenger  as 
for  goods  traffic,  is  in  all  respects  similar  to  that  which  is  worked 
on  the  English  railways.  Indeed,  in  many  cases,  the  passenger 
carriages  are  constructed  in  a'  more  luxurious  and  commodious 
manner,  and  the  second-class  coaches  especially  are  provided, 
and  furnished  with  more  regard  to  public  convenience. 

The  locomotive  duty,  the  consumption  of  fuel,  and  other  par- 
ticulars relating  to  the  engines  on  the  French  railways,  give 
results  not  differing  in  any  important  respects  from  those  which 
have  been  already  exhibited  with  reference  to  the  railways  of 
the  United  Kingdom  and  of  Belgium.  It  is  found,  for  example, 
that  the  average  distance  run  by  each  engine  lighted  varies  from 
seventy  to  eighty  miles ;  that  the  average  daily  mileage  of  each 
engine  employed  is  about  thirty  miles;  and  that  the  average 
consumption  of  fuel  per  mile  run,  including  that  which  is  con- 
sumed in  lighting  and  standing,  is  about  forty  pounds. 

As  an  example  of  the  manner  in  which  the  rolling  stock  is 
utilized  on  the  French  railways,  and  of  the  very  complete  re- 
ports published  of  the  railway  statistics  in  that  country,  I  give 
the  following  synopses,  deduced  from  the  reports  of  the  Northern 
Railway  Company,  which  works  the  traffic  of  three  hundred 
and  twenty  miles  of  lines,  being  nearly  20  per  cent,  of  all  the 
lines  under  traffic : 


CHAP.  XVIII.] 


FREN7CH  RAILWAYS. 


379 


TABULAR  SYNOPSIS  of  the  average  daily  Movement  of  the  Locomoth 
Stock  of  the  North  of  France  Railway  during  the  Year  1848. 


Passenger 


Number  employed 

Their  total  mileage 

Average  distance  traveled  per  engine - 

Total  mileage  of  trains - 

Number  of  trains  per  100  drawn  by  two  engines.. 
Equivalent  number  running  over  entire  line . 


Total  number  of  engines  lighted  daily _  57-5 

Average  distance  traveled  per  engine  lighted 92  mile 

Number  of  Ibs.  of  coke  consumed  daily 246,600 

Number  of  Ibs.  per  mile  run 46-7 


113 

3,476 
30-7 

3,033 
12-75 
10-8 


Goods 
Ermine 


1,782 
27-8 

1,522 
17-25 
5-5 


TABULAR  SYNOPSIS  of  the  average  daily  Movement  of  the  Carrying-Stock 
on  the  North  of  France  Railway  during  the  Year  18J8. 

PASSENGER  STOCK. 

Number 
employed. 

Distance 

Average 

lumber"' 

Mileage. 

Vehicle. 

TET8 

'Te^r 

Line  and 
Branches. 

10 
4,035 
6,354 
6,020 

41-6 
34-7 
30-3 

0-0033 
1-37 
2-06 
1-95 

0-03 
13-2 
19-8 

18-8 

1st  class  coaches  
2d      „ 

102 
183 
199 

3d      „ 

Totals  and  averages. 
Baggage  and  parcel-  vans  . 
Carnage      and     diligence- 

484 
97 

78 
50 

16,619 
6,200 

1,430 
480 
706 
493 

34-4 
64-0 

18-3 
9-6 

5-3833 
2-010 

0-464 
0-155 
0-228 
0-160 

51-83 
19-30 

4-46 
1-50 
2-20 
1-50 

Totals 

709 

25,928 

34-9 

8-4003 

80-79 

GOODS  STOCK. 

•3,119 

24,260 

5,972 

9,356 
259 

5 

•12-8 

16-000 

3-900 

6-150 
0-170 

0-003 

75-600 
18-600  "1 

29-200 
0-810 

0-015 

Covered-wagons  for  sugar 
and  merchandise  
Ditto  for  cattle   and  mer- 

Slieep-wagons  

Wagons    for    transport   of 

Totals  and  averages. 

3,119 

39,852 

12-8 

26-223 

124-225 

380 


RAILWAY  ECONOMY. 


[CHAP.  XVIII. 


In  the  last  column  of  this  table  is  exhibited  the  relation  be- 
tween the  movement  of  the  rolling  stock  and  the  extent  of  the 
railway.  The  numbers  in  it  express  the  number  of  vehicles  of 
each  kind  which  would  have  run  over  the  whole  length  of  the 
railway  per  day,  if  the  movement  of  the  rolling  stock  were  uni- 
formly distributed  over  it. 

In  the  following  table  is  presented  a  synopsis  of  the  pas- 
senger traffic  on  several  of  the  principal  railways  of  France, 
during  the  year  1848,  together  with  the  average  results  of  the 
whole. 

It  is  necessary,  however,  to  observe  that  this  year,  1848,  was 
exceptional  as  regards  the  French  railways  more  especially ; 
the  traffic  having  suffered  a  considerable  diminution,  and  on 
several  having  been  totally  suspended  for  a  certain  interval,  by 
the  events  of  the  Revolution. 


TABULAR  SYNOPSIS  of  the  average  daily  Movement  of  the  Passenger 
Traffic,  and  the  Revenue  proceeding  from  it  on  the  principal  French 
Railways  during  the  Year  1848. 

Northern. 
1st  class  

Number 
booked. 

Total 
Average 

ffl. 

ll 

31 

Receipts 

senger 
booked. 

Se 
traveled 
per  Pas- 
senger. 

Average 

iSSS 

sender  j 

V52 
1-17      | 
0-74 

0-98 

514 
1,705 
4,375 

29\555 
66,836 
114,187 

£. 

188 
318 
350 

S.      d. 

7     3* 
3  lOj 
1     7* 

Miles. 
57-5 
39-2 
26-1 

31-9 

2d  class    

3d  class 

Totals  and  averages 

Boulogne  and  Amiens. 
1st  class  

6,594 

210,578 

856 

2     7i 

78 
184 
227 

4,149 
7,089 
5,084 

30 
38 
21 

7     8i 
4     2 
1     9J 

53-2 
38-5 
22-4 

1-74 
1-30 
0-96 

2d  class 

3d  class    

Totals  and  averages 

Paris,  Rouen,  and  Havre. 
1st  class 

489 

16,322 

89 

3     4 

32-6 

1-23 

325 
1,030 
1,959 

14,625 
32,445 
56,419 

102 
170 
220 

6     3 
3     3i 
2     3 

45-0 
31-5 

28-8 

1-67 
1-25 
0-94 

1-08 

2d  class      

Totals  and  averages 
Rouen  and  Dieppe. 

3,314 

103,489 

520 
2.194 
2,209 

492 

2  11J 

31-2 

18-4 
69-0 
112-6 

3-43 
11-05 
8-25 

3     7J 
2     5} 
1     5J 

28-25 
24-65 
19-61 

1-54 
1-20 
0-89 

2d  class  
3d  class 

Totals  and  averages 

220-0 

4,023 

22-73 

2     Oj 

22-09 

1-12 

CHAP.  XVIII.] 


FRENCH  RAILWAYS. 


Number 
booked. 

Total 
Average 
da,ly 

Mileage. 

If 

ReceipU 
per  Pas 
senger 
booked. 

Average 
Distance 
traveled 
per  Pas- 

senger. 

Average 

Receipts 
per  Paa- 
sen^per 

*  Paris  and  St.  Germain. 

7-2 

93 

£. 
0-6 

s.    d. 
1     8 

Miles. 
13-0 

d. 

1-47 

2d  class      

330-0 

3,861 

17-9 

1     1 

11-7 

I'll 

3d  class 

2065-0 

20  133 

74-5 

0     8J- 

9-75 

0'87 

Totals  and  averages 

2402-2 

24,087 

93-0 

0     9 

10-03 

0-9 

*  Paris    and    Versailles 
(right). 
1st  class 

7 

77 

0-6 

1     8 

11-00 

1-74 

2d  class  

404 

4,194 

23-10 

1     1J 

10-38 

1-30 

3d  class 

1  888 

16,048 

73-0 

0     9£ 

8-50 

1-08 

Totals  and  averages 

2,299 

20,319 

97-6 

0  10J 

8-83 

1-16 

Paris  and  Orleans. 
Istclass    

473 

29,799 

175 

7     5 

63-0 

1-42 

912 

38,031 

187 

4     li 

41'7 

1-18 

3d  class  

2,253 

44,159 

130 

1     2 

19-6 

0-71 

Totals  and  averages 

3,638 

111,989 

492 

2     8J 

30-7 

1-05 

Marseilles  and  Avignon. 

69 

2,567 

17-5 

5     OJ 

37-2 

1-62 

2d  class    

393 

11,043 

56-0 

2  10 

28-1 

3d  class 

1  378 

29,214 

96-0 

1     5 

21"2 

0-80 

Totals  and  averages 

1,840 

42,824 

169-5 

1  10 

24-72 

0-89 

Strasbourg    and    Basle, 
and    Mulhausen    and 
Thann. 
Istclass  

116 

3,190 

21-4 

3     Oi 

27-5 

1-62 

2d  class 

565 

10,057 

51-0 

i  4 

17-8 

1-21 

3d  class  

1,300 

19,240 

63-0 

1     6* 

14-8 

0-81 

Totals  and  averages 

1,981 

32,487 

135-4 

1     4J 

16-40 

-  0-97 

Grand  totals  and  general 
averages. 

1,607 

i    84,575 

538 

6     8 

52-43 

1-53 

od  class 

5  612 

175  750 

872 

3     1J 

31-20 

1-19 

3d  class  ....  

15,557 

306,693 

1  1,036 

1     4 

19-72 

0-81 

Totals  and  averages 

22,776 

567,018 

2,446 

(.  « 

24-9 

1-03 

*  Strictly  speaking,  the  class  denominated  1st  on  these  lines,  corresponds  with  the 
saloon  class  on  other  French  railways,  and  Is  scarcely  analogous  to  Ist-clnss  pas- 
sengers generally.  Hence  the  exceptionally  small  proportion  of  these  passengers. 


It  will  be  desirable  to  show,  as  we  have  done  with  respect  to 
the  railway  traffic  elsewhere,  the  proportion  in  which  the  dif- 


382 


RAILWAY  ECONOMY. 


[CHAP.  XVIII. 


ferent  classes  of  passengers  have  contributed  to  the  business  of 
the  railways. 

This  is  done  in  the  following  table  for  several  of  the  principal 
lines,  and  the  average  result  of  the  whole  is  given : 


TABLE  showing  the  Proportion  of  Business  supplied  to  the  principal 
French  Railways  by  the  several  Classes  of  Passengers,  and  the  Pro- 
portion in  which  they  contributed  to  the  Receipts. 


Number  of 

each  Class  in 

every  100 

booked. 


North  of  Prance. 

1st  class 7-8 

2d  class 25-8 

3d  class 66-4 

Total 100-0 

Boulogne  and  Amiens. 

Istclass 16-0 

2d  class 37-5 

3d  class 46-5 

Total 100-0 

Paris,  Rouen,  and  Havre. 

Istclass 

2d  class 31-1 

3d  class ,     59-1 

Total 100-0 

Rouen  and  Dieppe. 

Istclass 8-4 

2d  class 40-0 

3d  class 51-6 

Total 100-0 

*  Paris  and  St.  Germain. 

Istclass 0-3 

2d  class 17-5 

3d  class 82-2 

Total 100-0 

Paris     and    Versailles     (right 
bank). 

Istclass 0-3 

2d  class 17-6 

3d  class 82-1 

Total 100-0 


hare  of  each 

Class  in  every 

100  Miles 

traveled. 


14-0 
31-7 
54-3 


25-5 
43-5 
31-0 


14-1 
31-3 

54-6 


10-5 
44-5 
45-0 


0-4 
16>1 
83-5 


0-38 
20-62 
79-00 


Share  of 
:ach  C|ass  in 
every  £100 

Receipts. 


22-0 
37-3 
40-7 


33-7 
42-7 
23-6 


20-7 
34-6 
44-7 


15-2 
48-6 
36-2 


0-6 
18-4 
81-0 


0-6 
23-8 
75-6 


:  See  note  to  table  at  p.  381. 


CHAP.  XVIII.] 


FRENCH  BAILWAYS, 


383 


Orleans. 

1st  class 13-0 

2d  class 25-1 

3d  class 61-9 

Total 100-0 

Marseilles  and  Avignon. 

Istclass 3-8 

2d  class 21-4 

3d  class 74-8 

Total 100-0 

Strasbourg  and  B  asle, 

Istclass 5-9 

2d  class 28-5 

3d  class 65-6 

Total 100-0 

General  averages. 

Istclass 7-0 

2d  class 24-6 

3d  class 

Total...  100-0 


Number  of 

each  Class  ir 

every  100 

booked. 


Share  of  each 

Class  in  every 

100  Miles 

traveled. 


34-0 
39-4 


6-0 
25-8 


10-0 
30-8 
59-2 


14-9 
30-9 
54-2 
100-0~ 


Share  of 

each  Class  ir 

every  .£100 

Receipts. 


35-6 
38-1 
26-3 


10-3 
33-1 
56-6 


21-9 
35-6 
42-5 


By  comparing  the  mileage  and  receipts  of  the  passengers 
with  the  mileage  of  the  engines  or  trains,  the  average  number 
of  passengers  carried  by  each  train,  and  the  average  receipts 
per  train  per  mile,  may  be  ascertained.  This  is  exhibited  in 
the  following  table  : 


TABULAR  ANALYSIS  of  the  daily  Movement  and  daily  average  Receipts 
of  the  Passenger  Traffic  on  the  undermentioned  French  Railways  for 
the  Year  1848. 

Average  .  „  Average 

daily  Mile-  Average  daily  „„!£?**,  Kec,  ip!s 

age  of  Pas-      Mileage  of  £auj^_re°sf  per  Train 

singer  Passengers.  {"-JJ-  per  MiU 


North  em 

Boulogne  and  Amiens 

Paris,  Rouen,  and  Havre.. 

Rouen  and  Dieppe 

Paris  anil  St.  Germain 

Paris  and  Versailles  (right) 

P  aris  and  O  rleans 

Orleans  and  Tours ' 

Strasbourg  and  Basle 

Avignon  and  Marseilles  ... 
Totals  and  averages. 


3,083 
616 

2,677 
330 
182 
154 

1,265 
565 
841 
740 


10,403 


210,578 
16,322 

103,489 
4,923 
24,087 
20,319 

111,989 
75,710 
32,487 
42,824 


042,728 


26-5 
38-7 
14-9 
132-0 
132-0 
88-5 
134-0 
38-6 
58-0 


61-4 


6  9* 
9 
0 


4 

5 
2     3 


0     3 

2     6 

0 

6  11 


384 


RAILWAY  ECONOMY. 


[Oi 


XVIII. 


To  ascertain  the  proportion  in  which  each  class  of  objects  of 
transport  contributed  to  the  gross  revenue  of  the  railways,  it  is 
only  necessary  to  compare  the  receipts  proceeding  from  each 
class  with  the  gross  receipts. 

The  results  of  such  a  comparison  for  some  of  the  principal 
railways  are  given  in  the  following  table  : 


TABLE  showing  the  Share  of  every  £100  of  gross  Revenue  contributed 
by  each  Class  of  Traffic  on  the  under-mentioned  French  Railways. 

North  of 

Orleans. 

Paris  and 
Rouen. 

Rouen  and 

49-40 
1-47 
50-87 
8-86 
0-27 
0-67 
2-22 
34-25 
1-52 
1-34 
49-13 

300-00 

48-20 
5-55 
53-75 
3-47 
0-45 
1-02 
3-39 
30-64 
7-28 

-^—  46-25 
100-00 

46-70 
2-51 
49-21 
10-72 
0-24 
0-44 
3-65 
31-40 
005 
4-29 
50-79 

10<HX) 

37-00 
1-92 
39-52 
8-95 
0-02 
0-03 
2-67 
48-00 
0-01 
0-80 
(50-48 

100-00 

n       '        ^ 

Horses              

Goods    

Cattle  
Sundries                     

Total.... 

By  comparing  the  mileage  of  the  tons  of  goods  carried,  and 
the  gross  receipts  produced  by  them,  with  the  number  of  tons 
booked,  we  are  enabled  to  ascertain  all  the  circumstances  at- 
tending the  goods  traffic. 

These  are  exhibited  in  the  following  table : 


TABULAR  ANALYSIS  of  the  Movement  of  the  Goods  Traffic,   and   the 
Receipts  proceeding  from  it,  on  some  of  the  principal  French  Rail- 
ways. 

Goods  Traffic. 

Average 
Number 
of  Tons 
booked. 

Average 
Mileage. 

Average 
Distance 
carried 
per  Ton. 

Average 
Receipts 
per  Ton. 

Northern       .  . 

1013 
713 
1367 
190 

84,821 
41,653 
80,534 
49,300 

83-5 
58-5 
59-0 
26-0 

s.    d. 
8     0 
11     0 
5     9* 
3  10 

Paris  and  Orleans  

Paris,  Rouen,  and  Havre  

Lyons  and  St.  Etienne  \.   . 

The  proportion  in  which  the  revenue  of  the  principal  lines 
has  proceeded  from  passengers  and  merchandise  is  exhibited  in 
the  following  table,  the  revenue  from  passengers  including  all 
the  traffic  carried  by  the  passenger  trains : 


CHAP.  XVIII. ] 


FRENCH  RAILWAYS. 


385 


TABULAR  ANALYSIS  of  the  Total  average  daily  Receipts,  Expenses,  and 
Profits  on  the  principal  French  Railways  during  the  Year  1848,  show- 
ing the  Proportion  due  to  Passengers  and  Goods. 

Railway. 

Receipts. 

Per  Cent,  of 
Total  Receipts. 

i 
•i 

Profits. 

Per  Pas- 
senger 
Trains. 

Per 
Goods 
Trains. 

Total. 

Passen- 
gers. 

Goods. 

Northern  
Boulogne  and  Amiens  .  . 
Paris,  Rouen,  and  Havre 
Rouen  and  Dieppe  
Paris  and  St.  Germain  .  . 
Paris  and  Versailles  
Paris  and  Orleans  
Orleans  and  Tours  

£. 
1053 
147 
671 
36-4 
93 
90-5 
634 
196 
235 
149 
189 
119 

£. 

627 
18-3 
348 
17-8 
00 
00 
384 
208 
97 
73 
7-3 
366 

£. 
1680 
165-3 
1019 
54-2 
93 
96-5 
1018 
404 

222 
196-3 
485 

62-5 
89-0 
65-5 
67-2 

62-4 

48-6 
70-5 
67-0 
9G-5 
24-6 

37-5 
11-0 
34-5 

32-8 

37-6 
51-4 
29-5 
33-0 
3-5 
75-4 

«£. 

803 
102 
832 
47-5 
69 
63-5 
642 
252 
218 
168 
152 
273 

e. 

877 
63-3 
187 
6-7 
24 
33 
376 
152 
114 
54 
44-3 
212 

Strasbourg  and  Basle  .  .  . 
Avignon  and  Marseilles. 
Lyons  and  St.  Etienne.  . 

Totals  and  averages 

3618-9 

2146-4 

5765-3 

62-8 

37-2 

3622 

2143-3 

By  comparing  the  receipts,  expenses,  and  profits  with  the 
movement  of  the  trains,  the  length  of  the  lines  worked,  and  the 
expense  of  their  construction,  we  obtain  the  proportion  of  these 
assignable  to  each  mile  run  by  the  trains,  each  mile  of  the  rail- 
way open,  and  each  .£100  of  the  capital  expended.  This  is 
exhibited  in  the  following  table  : 


TABULAR  ANALYSIS  of  the  Proportion  of  the  Receipts,  Expenses,  and 
Profits  on  the  French  Railways,  chargeable  per  Mile  run  by  Trains, 
per  Mile  of  Lines  worked,  and  per  Cent,  of  Capital  expended. 

Railway. 

Per  Mile  of  Trains. 

Per  Mile  of  Railway. 

Per  Cent,  per  Annum 
of  Capital. 

Re 

ceiPts- 
t.  d. 
73J 

10  3 
12  6 
9  6 

884 

534 
76_ 

penses. 
t.    d. 

3    6 

7    8 
8    3 
6    0 
5    4 

4    0 
4    3 

Profits. 
t.  d. 
394 

2  7 
4  3 
3  6 
34J 

134 
3  3 

Re- 
ceipts. 

5-24 
2-14 

1-75 

7-15 
8-17 
12-50 
564 
2-34 

2-22 
525 
13-50 

"TIT 

Ex- 

pen^e*. 

2-50 
1-32 

5-93 
1-53 

5-31 

5-38 
7-87 
3-52 
1-54 

1-68 
3-60 

7-50 
3-33 

Profits. 

2-74 
0-82 

1-35 
0-22 

1-84 
2-79 
4-63 
2-12 
0-80 

0-54 
1-95 

5-91 
1-97 

Re- 
ceipts. 

8-50 
3-87 

7-43 
345 

3-30 
13-00 
16-00 
9-]5 
3-76 

4-25 

2-47 

18-60 
7-20 

ex- 
penses 

4-07 
2-39 

6-06 
3-03 

2-49 
8-55 
10-08 
5-70 
247 

321 
1-92 

10-50 
4-52 

Profits. 

4-43 
1-48 

1-37 
0-42 

0-87 
4-45 
5-92 
3-45 
1-29 

1-04' 
0-55 

8-10 

iFir 

Northern  
Boulogne  and  Am- 
iens   
Paris,   Rouen,    and 
Havre  
Rouen  and  Dieppe 
Paris  and  St.  Ger- 

Paris  and  Versailles 
Paris  and  Orleans  . 
Orleans  and  Tours. 
Centre  
Strasbourg          and 
Basle  
Avignon  and  Mar- 
seilles   
Lvons  and  St.  Eti- 
enne   

386 


RAILWAY  ECONOMY. 


[CHAP.  XVIII. 


The  average  speed  of  the  passenger  trains  on  the  principal 
French  lines  is  exhibited  in  the  following  table: 


i  TABULAR  ANALYSIS  of  the  Movement  <>f  the  Passenger  Traffic  on  the  I 
]  French  Lines  of  Railway,  showing  the  average  Speed,  Stoppages,  &c., 
!  of  each  Class  of  Trains. — N.B.  An  average  Loss  of  Five  Minutes  is 
!  allowed  for  each  Stoppage,  except  in  particular  Cases  where  a  greater 
!  Delay  is  fixed  by  the  Programme.  This  is  intended  to  include  the 
,  Time  lost  in  corning  to' Rest,  and  getting  up  Speed. 


Railway 

.Train 

s» 

Time. 

No.  of 

Stop- 
pages. 

Assr 

including 
Stop- 
pages. 

Average 

S- 

excluding 
Stor- 
pag«s. 

Mail 

Miles. 

235-0 

/,.    m. 
8       0 

10 

Miles. 
29-35 

Mile,. 
34-60 

Paris  to  Boulogne  
Paris  to  Havre  

Paris  to  Orleans  

1st  class 
3d  class 

2d  class 
Night  M. 
1st  class 
3d  class 
1st  class 
2d  class 

235-0 
235-0 
168-3 
168-3 
140-0 
140-0 
140-0 
75-00 
75-00 
64-50 

9    25 
12    30 
6    45 
7    10 
6    45 
6      5 
7       5 
3    15 
4      0 
3    55 

33 
15 
21 
1 

22 
28 
4 
17 
15 

25-40 
18-85 
25-00 
23-50 
20-70 
23-00 
19-75 
23-10 
18-72 

32-40 
25-40 
29-30     i 

20-70 
34-25 
3085 
25-80 

28-85 

Tours  to  Angers  
Paris  to  Chalons-sur-Marne 

1st  class 
2d  class 
1st  class 
2d  class 
3d  class 

39-75 
39-75 
106-75 
106-75 
106-75 

3      0 
5    30 

4    38 
4    50 
5      0 

5 
13 
10 
12 
14 

13-25 
7-20 
22-95 
22-10 
21-35 

15-30 
8-65 
28-10 
26-65 
28-00 

Totals  and  averages  .  . 

2075-85 

97    53 

243 

21-20 

26-95 

j 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

GERMAN   RAILWAYS. 

THE  Germanic  States  are  the  only  extensive  theatre  of  rail- 
way enterprise  which  now  remains  to  be  noticed,  and  under 
this  term  I  would  be  understood  to  include  all  that  portion  of 
Central  Europe  which  is  situate  east  and  north  of  the  Rhine. 

The  system  of  railways  executed  and  in  progress  upon  this 
part  of  the  Continent  is  very  unequally  distributed,  in  accord- 
ance with  the  unequal  distribution  of  population,  commerce,  and 
industry.  A  tract,  east  of  the  frontier  of  the  kingdom  of  the 
Netherlands,  having  a  length  of  about  four  hundred  miles  meas- 
ured east  and  west,  and  a  breadth  of  about  two  hundred  miles 
measured  north  and  south,  is  covered  wilh  a  close  network  of 
railways,  most  of  which  are  completed  and  in  operation,  and 
the  remainder  in  active  progress. 

This  system  includes  Prussia  Proper  and  its  provinces,  the 
kingdoms  of  Hanover  and  Saxony  and  their  dependencies,  and 
Brunswick  and  the  other  northern  duchies.  The&e  form  an 
extensive  basin  of  population,  commerce,  and  industry,  subor- 
dinate and  tributary  to  which  all  the  other  systems  of  railways 
in  the  Germanic  States  may  be  considered.  These  latter  sys- 
tems consist  of  four  distinct  trunk  lines,  running  north  and  south 
in  parallel  directions. 

The  first  follows  the  course  of  the  Rhine,  commencing  at 
Cologne,  and  terminating  for  the  present  at  Bale.  This  system 
is  completed  and  in  full  operation  from  Mayence  and  Frankfort 
to  Bale,  and  from  Cologne  to  Bonn,  the  link  between  Bonn  and 
Mayence  being  still  incomplete. 

Short  branches  are  thrown  off  from  this  trunk  line  at  vari- 
ous points,  to  reach  principal  centres  of  population  which  do 
not  lie  in  its  direct  course,  such  as  Baden,  Manheim,  and 
Spires. 

The  second  of  these  tributary  lines  which  run  north  and 
south  is  the  Wiirtemburg  Railway,  which  has  for  its  point  of 
departure  Stuttgard,  the  capital  of  that  kingdom.  From  this 
the  line  proceeds  northward  to  Heilbronn,  to  which  point  it  is 
complete  and  in  operation.  From  Heilbronu,  it  is  proposed  to 
continue  it  to  Frankfort;  and  a  branch  is  also  projected  to  con- 
nect Stuttgard  with  Carlsruhe. 


388  RAILWAY    ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XIX. 

From  Stuttgard,  the  line  is  carried  southward  by  Ulm  -to 
Frederickshafen,  on  Lake  Constance.  This  part  is  also  nearly 
completed.  It  is  proposed  to  continue  the  line  southward  from 
a  point  on  the  opposite  shore  of  the  lake,  crossing  the  Alps, 
by  the  pass  of  the  Splugen,  and  descending  by  the  western 
shores  of  the  Lago  Maggiore  into  the  plain  of  Piedmont,  ter- 
minating on  the  field  of  Marengo,  under  the  walls  of  Alex- 
andria. Here  this  line  would  join  the  Piedmont  system  of 
railways,  and  thus  communicate  at  once  with  Turin  and  Genoa. 

A  continuous  line  of  railway  communication  would  thus  be 
made  from  Genoa  to  Cologne,  and  thence  to  the  principal  ports 
of  the  Baltic,  the  Sound,  the  German  Ocean,  and  the  Channel, 
by  means  of  the  extensive  network  of  railways  already  describ- 
ed as  overspreading  the  northern  section  of  the  Germanic  States, 
and  by  the  Belgian  lines. 

The  third  great  tributary  to  which  we  have  referred  is  that 
which  traverses  the  kingdom  of  Bavaria,  having  Munich  as  its 
point  of  departure.  From  Munich  it  proceeds  northward,  by 
Augsburg,  Donauworth,  Nuremberg,  Bamberg,  and  Lichten- 
fels,  to  Hof,  where  it  unites  with  the  Saxon  railways,  and  ul- 
timately reaches  Leipsic  ;  being  ~thus  connected  with  the  great 
northern  system  already  mentioned.  This  northern  trunk  of 
the  Bavarian  system  throws  off  several  branches  east  and  west. 
From  Augsburg  a  branch  is  in  progress,  intended  to  b.e  carried 
to  Lindau,  on  the  shores  of  'Lake  Constance.  This  is  com- 
pleted and  opened  as  far  as  Kaufbeuren,  the  remainder  being 
in  progress.  Another  branch  proceeds  westward  from  Augs- 
burg, and  unites  with  the  Wurtemburg  Railway  at  Ulm.  From 
Nth-em  burg  a  branch  is  projected  (but  not  yet  commenced),  to 
be  carried  eastward,  and  to  terminate  on  the  left  bank  of  the 
Danube,  at  Ratisbon.  From  Bamberg  a  branch  is  in  progress 
westward,  to  be  carried  through  Wiirzburg  to  Frankfort  on  the 
Maine,  and  there  to  unite  with  the  great  Rhenish  trunk.  From 
Lichtenfels  a  link  is  projected,  but  not  yet  commenced,  to  pass 
through  Cobourg  and  Meiningen  to  Cassel.  Finally,  it  is  in- 
tended to  carry  a  branch  eastward  from  Hof  to  Pilsen  in  Bo- 
hemia, and  from  thence,  by  two  branches  to  Prague  on  the  one 
side,  and  to  Budweis,  the  terminus  of  an  Austrian  mineral  line, 
on  the  other. 

The  Bavarian  trunk  line  for  the  present  terminates  at  Munich, 
but  it  is  designed  to  carry  it  southward  and  eastward.  The 
southern  trunk  will  traverse  the  Tyrol,  passing  through  Inn- 
spruck  and  Bautzen,  following  the  pass  of  the  Alps  to  Trent, 


CHAP.  XIX.]  GERMAN  RAILWAYS.  389 

and  terminating  finally  at  Verona,  where  it  will  unite  with  the 
railway  connecting  Venice  and  Milan. 

When  this  project  shall  be  realized,  a  continuous  railway 
communication  will  be  in  operation  between  the  Adriatic  and 
the  ports  of  the  Baltic,  the  Sound,  the  German  Ocean,  and 
the  Channel,  the  course  being  through  the  Tyro>,  Bavaria, 
and  either  through  the  Rhenish  states,  or  through  Prussia, 
according  as  it  is  desired  to  reach  the  German  Ocean  or  the 
Baltic. 

The  eastern  trunk  will  be  carried  from  Munich  to  Saalsburg, 
on  the  frontiers  of  Austria,  where  it  will  fork ;  one  branch 
being  carried  to  the  Linz  and  Gmtinden  line  at  Lambach,  and 
the  other  to  the  Vienna  and  Trieste  line  at  BrUck.  When 
this  project  is  realized,  an  unbroken  railway  communication 
will  be  formed  from  Vienna  westward  to  Munich,  and  from 
thence,  by  Augsburg,  Ulm,  and  Stuttgard,  to  the  Rhine  at 
Frankfort. 

The  fourth  tributary  of  the  northern  basin  is  that  which 
traverses  Austria  north  and  south,  having  Vienna  for  its  point  of 
departure,  and  throwing  off  numerous  and  important  branches. 
This  line  proceds  south  from  Vienna  by  Glognitz,  Gratz,  Cilli, 
to  Laybach,  and  terminates  at  Trieste.  The  line  is  already 
open  and  in  operation  to  Laybach,  with  the  exception  of  a 
short  distance  presenting  some  engineering  difficulties  near 
Glognitz.  •  The  section  between  Laybach  and  Trieste  crosses 
the  Julian  Alps,  and  will  be  attended  with  some  engineering 
operations  of  an  expensive  kind. 

Of  the  branches  from  this  southern  trunk  of  the  Austrian  line, 
one  of  the  most  important  is  that  which  has  been  already  men- 
tioned, connecting  Briick  with  Saalsburg  and  Munich.  Another 
proceeds  eastward  from  Neustadt,  and  is  completed  as  far  as 
Oderberg.  It  is  intended  to  be  continued  to  Pesth;  and  the 
last  section  of  it,  connecting  Stahlweissenberg  with  Pesth,  is  m 
operation.  From  Vienna,  several  short  lines  to  neighboring 
places  of  resort,  such  as  Laxenberg,  Briick,  and  Stokerau,  are 
completed  and  in  operation. 

The  trunk  line  is  carried  northward  from  Vienna  by  Gands- 
erndorf,  Lundenburg,  and  Prerau,  to  Oderburg,  pn  the  confines 
of  Upper  Silesia,  where  it  unites  with  the  extensive  system 
of  northern  lines  already  adverted  to.  This  northern  trunk 
throws  off  several  extensive  and  important  branches.  The 
first  proceeds  eastward  from  Gandserndorf  to  Presburg  and 
Pesth,  throwing  off  a  sub-branch  to  Tyrnau.  It  is  completed 


390  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XIX. 

and  in  operation  as  far  as  Presburg,  as  is  also  the  last  section 
between  Waitzen  and  Pesth,  and  the  sub-branch  to  Tyrnau, 
the  intermediate  sections  being  in  progress. 

From  Pesth  the  line  is  continued  eastward  into  Hungary  as 
far  as  Debreczen,  about  half  its  length,  terminating  at  Sczolnok, 
being  completed  and  in  operation. 

Another  branch  of  the  northern  trunk  is  carried  westward 
from  Lundenberg,  passes  the  field  of  Austerlitz  at  Brunn,  and 
is  continued  from  thence  to  Bohm-Tribau  in  Moravia.  Another 
branch  proceeds  eastward  from  Prerau  by  Olmutz,  and  unites 
with  the  former  at  Bohrn-Tribau.  From  Bohm-Tribau  this 
line  proceeds  further  eastward  by  Kolliu  to  Prague,  from 
whence  it  is  continued  northward  to  Dresden,  following  the 
valley  of  the  Elbe,  where  it  unites  with  the  great  northern  sys- 
tem already  described.  Short  branches  are  thrown  off  from 
Prague  to  Lana  and  to  Saatz. 

The  branch  lines  from  the  Austrian  northern  trunk,  extend- 
ing across  the  entire  territory  of  Bohemia,  are  complete  and  in 
full  operation,  with  the  exception  of  a  short  section  near  Dres- 
den, between  Pirna  and  Aussig. 

This  Austrian  system  of  railways  thus  carried  north  and 
south,  and  which  is  now  completed,  except  the  short  section 
between  Labach  and  Trieste,  forms  an  almost  unbroken  line 
of  railway  communication  between  Trieste  and  the  various 
ports  of  the  Baltic,  the  Sound,  and  the  German  Ocean,  and 
presents  various  routes  according  to  to  destination  aimed  at. 
If  the  ports  of  the  German  Ocean  be  desired  to  be  reached, 
the  branch  diverging  eastward  at  Lundenberg  will  be  adopted, 
by  which  the  traveler  will  pass  pass  through  Bohemia,  Saxony, 
and  Western  Prussia,  touching  at  Prague,  Dresden,  Leipsic, 
Magdeburg,  and  arriving  ultimately  at  Hamburg.  If  it  be  de- 
sired to  reach  the  ports  of  the  Baltic  or  the  Sound,  he  will 
pursue  the  Austrian  trunk  line  to  Oderburg,  on  the  frontiers 
of  Silesia,  where  he  will  enter  on  the  Prussian-Silesian  system, 
and  will  pass  by  Breslau,  Frankfort  on  the  Oder,  and  Berlin  to 
Stettin. 

Berlin  is  the  common  centre  and  point  of  departure  of  the 
extensive  system  of  northern  railways.  From  this  capital  seven 
trunk  lines  will  ultimately  diverge,  five  of  which  are  completed 
and  in  operation.  The  first  of  these  connects  Berlin  with  Ham- 
burg, passing  through  Wittenberg,  and  following  the  right  bank 
of  the  Elbe. 

The  second  connects  Berlin  with  Hanover  and  Dusseldorf, 


CHAP.  XIX.]  GERMAN  RAILWAYS.  391 

on  the  right  bank  of  the  Rhine,  passing  through  Magdeburg, 
Brunswick,  Minden,  and  Hamna,  and  throwing  off  various 
branches  in  its  course. 

The  third  proceeds  from  Berlin,  by  Potsdam,  to  Kothen, 
Halle,  Weimar,  Gotha,  and  Cassel.  From  Halle,  a  link  con- 
nects it  with  Leipsic,  and  this  is  continued  from  Leipsic  to 
Dresden.  A  shorter  course,  however,  has  been  opened  be- 
tween Berlin  and  Dresden,  by  a  link  formed  with  the  Berlin 
and  Kothen  line  just  mentioned,  proceeding  from  Jilterbogt  to 
Riesa,  passing  through  Herzburg. 

The  fourth  line  diverging  from  Berlin,  and  which  may  be 
considered  as  the  continuation  of  the  Berlin  and  Hamburg  line, 
passes  through  Frankfort  on  the  Oder,  and  is  carried  through 
Upper  Silesia,  by  Bunslau,  Breslau,  and  Oppeln,  to  Kosel, 
where  it  forks,  one  branch  going  to  Cracow,  and  the  other 
uniting  with  with  the  Austrian  northern  trunk  at  Oderburg,  on 
the  frontier.  This  Silesian  trunk  line  by  Berlin  and  Cracow 
throws  off  various  branches  of  more  or  less  importance,  con- 
necting it  with  the  principal  centres  of  population  and  industry 
on  the  one  side  and  the  other.  A  most  important  branch,  pro- 
ceeding northward  from  this  line,  is  intended  to  be  carried 
from  Breslau  by  Posen  to  Dantzic  and  Konigsberg;  and  an- 
other is  projected  from  Frankfort  to  Posen,  uniting  with  thia 
latter. 

The  fifth  line  diverging  from  Berlin  proceeds  northward  to 
Stettin,  from  whence  it  is  carried  at  right  angles  by  Stargard 
to  Posen. 

The  two  remaining  lines  diverging  from  Berlin  have  not  yet 
been  commenced.  One  will  proceed  northward  to  Strelitz,  and 
the  other  eastward  to  Bromberg,  in  the  grand  duchy  of  Posen, 
uniting  at  this  point  with  the  Breslau  and  Dantzic- line  already 
mentioned. 

A  great  number  of  lines  are  projected,  but  not  yet  com- 
menced, in  the  tract  of  country  between  the  Weser  and  the 
German  Ocean,  which  will  be  seen  by  reference  to  the  table 
of  railways  completed  and  projected,  which  we  shall  presently 
give. 

Dresden  and  Hanover  form  two  secondary  centres  of  diverg- 
ence of  this  northern  Germanic  system.  From  Dresden  three 
trunks  diverge  ;  one,  which  has  been  already  mentioned,  fol- 
lows the  valley  of  the  Elbe  to  Prague ;  another  proceeds  east- 
ward, by  Bautzen  to  Kohlfurt,  where  it  unites  with  the  Silesian 
trunk  line  connecting  Berlin  with  Breslau,  throwing  off  a  branch 
to  Zittau  ;  the  third  trunk,  which  diverges  from  Dresden,  pro- 


RAILWAY  ECONOMY. 


[CHAP.  XIX. 


ceeds  westward  to  Leipsic,  first  following  the  right  bank  of  the 
Elbe,  which  it  crosses  at  Riesa.  A  branch  proceeds  from 
Riesa  to  Chemnitz,  now  in  operation,  which  is  to  be  continued 
to  Zuickau,  and  to  join  the  Saxon-Bavarian  line  at  Werdau. 

From  Hanover  three  trunk  lines  issue,  all  of  which  are  in 
operation  :  one  directed  to  Bremen,  following  the  right  bank 
of  the  Weser ;  another  by  Celle  and  Luneburg  to  Harburg,  on 
the  left  bank  of  the  Elbe,  opposite  Hamburg. 

The  third  trunk  proceeding  from  Hanover,  being  the  con- 
tinuation of  the  great  line  from  Berlin  westward,  strikes  the 
Elbe  at  Mind  en,  and  is  continued  by  Hamm  and  Duisburg  to 
Cologne.  This  line  throws  off  several  branches.  One  which 
proceeds  from  Minden,  and  which  is  in  progress,  will  pass 
through  Osnabruck  and  Lingen  to  Emden.  Another  proceeds 
from  Hamm  eastward  by  Padderborne  to  Cassel,  where  it  is 
connected  with  the  line  which  traverses  the  duchies  of  Anhalt, 
and  is  continued  to  Halle,  Leipsic,  and  Dresden.  Another 
branch  of  this  trunk  line  connects  Hamm  with  Munster.  At 
Dortmund  the  line  forks;  one  branch  proceeding  to  Dusseldorf 
by  Elberfeld,  and  the  other  to  Dusseldorf  by  Duisburg.  At 
Cologne  this  unites  with  the  Belgian  railways,  which  open  a 
communication  to  the  ports  of  the  Netherlands  and  to  the 
French  system  of  railways. 

The  progress  of  the  construction  of  the  Germanic  railways 
for  the  last  five  years,  including  those  which  are  merely  pro- 
jected, as  well  as  those  which  are  in  progress  or  contemplated, 
is  exhibited  in  the  following  table  : 


TABLE  showing  the  Progress  of  the  Railways  in  the  .Germanic  States 
during  the  Five  Years  ending  December  31,  1849. 

RAILWAYS. 

1845. 

1847. 

1849. 

Miles. 

1,588 

Miles. 
2,828 

Miles. 
4,542 
800 

Total  completed  and  in  process  of  construction 

Decided  to  be  constructed  and  sanctioned  by  the 
state  

4,505 

4,966 

5,342 
•3,114 

1,299 

Total  constructed,  in  progress,  and  decided  on 

Projected  or  contemplated,  but  not  finally  decided 
on  or  sanctioned  by  the  state 

" 

6,265 
1,921 

Total  constructed,  in  progress,  sanctioned,  and 
contemplated  ...   . 

8,186 

M56 

CHAP.  XIX.]  GERMAN  RAILWAYS.  393 

In  order  to  present  a  complete  view  of  the  present  state  of 
the  railways  constructed  and  in  progress  in  the  Germanic  States, 
I  have  collected  in  the  following  table  the  railways  classed  as 
they  are  in  operation,  in  progress,  or  merely  projected,  according 
to  the  most  recent  documents.  The  lengths  assigned  to  the 
lines  open  and  in  progress  are  generally  exact,  being  taken  from 
official  reports.  The  lengths  of  the  lines  projected  are  in  some 
cases  taken  only  from  measurement  on  the  maps  and  charts. 


TABLK  showing  the  Railways  of  the  Germanic  States,  distinguishing 
those  which  were  in  operation,  those  which  were  in  progress,  and 
those  which  were  projected  but  not  commenced  in  1849. 

RAILWAYS. 

Length  of  Line. 

Completed. 

In  progress. 

Projected. 

Miles. 

65-5 
31-10 
100-0 

Miles. 
100-0 

mitt. 

70-0 
40-0 
45-0 
230-0 

350-0 
182-0 

260-0 
50-0 
160-0 

70-0 
65-0 

28-0 

Branches  to  Gluckstadt  and  Rendsburg  
Amsterdam—  Rotterdam  —  Arnheim  
Annaburg—  Bochnia  

288-4 
37-4 
176-0 
184-20 

Bamberg  —  Francfort-on-Maine  
Bavarian  Railway  (Lindau—  Hof  )  

Berlin—  Stettin  —  Posen  

Berlin—  Potsdam—  Magdeburg  

90-0 
109-6 
241-3 

Berlin—  Breslau  

R      -1           V  '1 

35-6 
5-75 

78-0 

Brie"    Niesse                                

81-0 
122-0 
6-3 

39-0 
53-30 

18-4 

20-0 

63-1 
20-0 
34-1 

130-0 
00-0 

(••   -..,1     Krinrfort  on  Maine 

P   1    trno     Duisbun? 

Ill-  -fil 

Constance  to  Alexandria  by  Splugen.  
Copenhagen—  Roskild  —  Kersoer  
Drlf/.vl—  Meppel—  Arlingen  

Flensbnrg—  Rensburg—  Husnm  
Franofort-tm-Maine—  Wiesbaden  

25-3 
25-0 
100 

224-5 
25-0 
57-0 

74-0 

I!''11*    'ft            ^         I 

1  ranc                          ^           'nfrpn 

Branches  :  Baden—  Kehl  

Oiiitini'en—  Cassel  ...                           

394 


RAILWAY  ECONOMY. 


[CHAP.  XIX. 


I 

ength  of  Lin< 

. 

RAILWAYS. 

Completed. 

In  progress. 

Projected. 

Halle—  Weimar—  Cassel  

Miles. 

1GO-0 

MiUt. 

Milct. 
108-0 

Haium  —  MuQster  

16-0 

50-0 

36-0 

54'0 

64-0 

64-0 

Hanover  —  Brunswick  
Hanover  —  Hamm  
Hildesheim—  Celle  
Hof    Pilsen       .          

40-5 
95-0 
30-5 

90-0 

70-0 

go-0 

19-70 

22-0 

800 

80-0 

Leipsic    Dresden        .   .   . 

71-3 

40-0 

Lichtenfels—  Gerstung  

2165 

80-0 

Lingen    Zvvolle 

60-0 

40-0 

Lubeck—  Schwerin  
Lubeck—  Hamburg—  Kiel  

57-2 

40-0 
79-0 

Branches  :  Oschersleben—  Halberstadt  
Wolfenbittle—  Harzburg  
Magdeburg  —  Leipsic  

18-6 
27-6 

72-5 

10-0 

Manheim    Metz 

50-0 

Mecklenburg-Schwerin—  Hagenau  
Middleburg-Dusseldorf  
Minden—  Emden  

18-4 

170-0 
120-0 

200-0 

Munich—  Verona  
Nieustadt—  Oderburg  
Nuremberg  —  FUrth             ...   . 

32^0 
3-5 

260-0 

45-0 

Oswiectin  —  Warsaw  

161-0 

50-0 

Pejth  —  Diebrizen    

40-0 

60-0 

Pesth  —  Stahveissenberg  

40-0 
41-0 

35-0 

Prp  Imrff     Tvrnau 

20-0 

34-2 

Riesa    Meissen           .   .   . 

16'0 

Riesa—  Guben 

80-0 

Rotterdam—  Utrecht  '  

30-0 

42-0 

174'4 

13-8 

Vienna    Briick 

25-5 

259-0 

92*0 

Branch  :   Modling—  Laxenburg  
Wurtemburg  Railway  (Heilbronn—  Stuttgard— 
Frederickshafen)  

5-75 

107-3 

50-0 

Total  

4542-30 

800-0 

3114-0 

CHAP.  XIX.]  GERMAN  RAILWAYS.  395 

The  proportion  in  which  this  extent  of  railway  communica- 
tion in  operation,  in  progress,  and  projected,  to  Jan.  1,  1847, 
was  shared  among  the  several  States  of  Germany  (excluding 
the  kingdom  of  the  Netherlands),  is  shown  in  the  following 
table : 


TABLE  showing  the  Proportions  in  which  the  German  Railways  on  January 
1,  1847,  were  distributed  among  the  several  States. 

Austria  
Prussia  
Duchies  of  Anhalt 
Kingdom  of  Saxony 
Saxon  Duchies..  .. 
Bavaria  
Wurtemburg  
Grand    Duchy    of 
Baden  
Grand    Duchy    of 
Hesse  
Nassau  
Free  city  of  Franc- 
fort  
Electorate  of  Hesse 
Duchv    of    Bruns- 
wick   
Kingdom  of  Hano- 

Open. 

In  progress. 

Adopted. 

Contemplated. 

Miles. 

Miles 

CerJof 
total 
Length. 

25-62 
40-54 
1-85 
6-32 
0-49 
5-33 
0-86 

5-66 

1-23 

0-84 

0-20 

2-58 
2-10 

0-34 
1-64 
4-40 
100-0 

Miles. 

Mite, 
per 

Cent,  of 
total 
Length. 

10-79 
26-65 

Miles. 

Miles 

CePntof 
total 
Length. 

12-41 
47-91 

Miles. 

Miles 

Ce^of 
total 
Length. 

725-60 
1,141-60 
52-20 
178-16 
13-92 
151-17 
24-33 

161-14 

34-90 
23-70 

5-80 

75-80 
59-50 

9-28 
46-40 
124-50 
2,828-0 

231-39 
572-50 

160-0 
628-34 

296-00 
778-23 

15-39 
40-56 

149-70 
44-10 
448-00 
149-70 

35-80 

44-10 
3-48 

10-44 

179-80 

155-70 
15-59 

2-32 
95-10 
9-28 
2,138-0 

6-98 
2-05 
20-70 
6-98 

167 

2-05 
0-17 

0-49 
8-46 

7-29 
0-73 

0-12 
4-44 
0-43 
100-0 

4-64 
88-10 
44-10 
32-48 

40-06 

'3-62 
6-63 
246-93 

44-10 

0-36 
6-84 
3-41 
2-52 

3-15 

6-28 
0-51 
19-19 

3-42 

9-28 
18-53 
331-80 
11820 

124-00 

2-32 
74-30 

18-54 
69-50 
80-30 

0-48 
0-96 
17-26 
6-16 

6-45 

0-12 
3-86 

0-96 
3-62 
4-18 
100-0 

Schamberglippe... 
Free  cities  of  Ham- 
burg, Lubeck,  and 
Bremen  
Duchy  of  Mecklen- 
burg   
Duchy  of  Holstein 
andLavensburg.. 

1,299-0 

100-0 

1,921-0 

The  German  railways  have  been  constructed  in  some  cases 
by  companies,  and  in  others  by  the  government.  Those  of  the 
grand  duchy  of  Baden,  the  kingdoms  of  Wurtemburg,  Bavaria, 
and  Hanover,  the  empire  of  Austria,  the  duchy  of  Brunswick, 
and  the  principailties  of  Hesse,  have  been,  with  a  few  excep- 
tions, constructed  and  are  worked  by  the  States.  Even  in  the 
few  cases  where  the  construction  of  particular  lines  was  con- 
fided to  companies,  the  governments  have  generally  redeemed 
them. 


396  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XIX. 

In  Prussia,  the  State  has  abstained  from  any  direct  interfer- 
ence with  the  construction  or  working  of  the  railways,  but  has 
extended  encouragement  to  the  private  companies  by  whom 
the  extensive  system  of  lines  which  cover  its  territory  has  been 
executed.  In  cases  where  the  traffic  did  not  offer  sufficient 
encouragement  to  stimulate  private  enterprise,  the  government 
has  extended  its  aid,  either  in  the  shape  of  subvention,  or  by 
taking  certain  shares  in  the  line,  or  in  guaranteeing  a  minimum 
rate  of  interest  on  capital.  The  government,  however,  reserves 
a  power  of  redemption  at  the  end  of  thirty  years,  on  the  con- 
dition of  paying  to  the  railway  proprietors  a  capital  equal  to 
twenty-five  times  the  average  amount  of  the  dividends  enjoyed 
by  the  shareholders  for  the  preceding  five  years.  The  State 
would,  in  that  case,  assume  the  responsibilities  and  debts  of  the 
company,  but  it  would  at  the  same  time  take  possession  of  their 
entire  assets,  as  well  as  the  reserve  fund.  The  State  engages 
meanwhile,  not  to  permit  parallel  and  competing  lines  to  be 
constructed.  The  government  also  retains  a  power  of  control- 
ling the  tariff. 

Constructed  with  a  view  to  a  traffic  comparatively  limited,  and 
resembling  closely  in  their  commercial  conditions  the  roads  of 
the  United  States,  the  German  railways  have  been  constructed, 
in  general,  on  principles  analogous  to  those  which  have  been 
found  to  answer  so  well  in  America.  The  vast  expenditure  for 
earth-work  and  costly  works  of  art,  such  as  viaducts,  bridges, 
and  tunnels,  by  which  valleys  are  bestridden  and  mountains 
pierced  to  gain  a  straight  and  level  line  in  the  English  system, 
have  not  been  attempted ;  and  the  railways  have  been  carried 
more  nearly  along  the  natural  level  of  the  country,  the  cost  of 
earth- work  having  been  generally  limited  to  that  of  short  cuttings 
and  low  embankments.  Curves  of  comparatively  short  radius 
have  also  been  admitted,  so  that  the  railways  might  wind  along 
those  levels  which  would  offer  the  most  economical  conditions 
of  construction. 

The  following  table  will  illustrate  the  general  characters  of 
the  lines  as  to  gradients  and  curves,  compared  with  those  which 
prevail  in  England : 


CHAP.  XIX.] 


GERMAN  RAILWAYS. 


397 


TABLE  showing  the  prevailing  Gradients  and  Curves  on  the  principal 
Railways  of  the  Germanic  States,  as  well  as  the  exceptional  Gra- 
dients of  steeper  Acclivities,  and  the  exceptional  Curves  of  shorter 
Radius,  where  they  occur. 

Gradients. 

Radii  of  Curves. 

Names  of  Railways 

vailing. 

Excep. 
tional. 

Pre- 
vailing. 

tional 

Observations. 

One  in 

One  in 

Miles. 

I'ards. 

Baden  Railway  (Manheim 
Francfort) 

200 

0-56 

I960 

(i)  Six  curves  have  radii 
under  400  yards. 

Nuremberg—  Furth  

525 

Line  absolutely  straight. 

Munich—  Augsburg  
Bavarian  State  lines  

300 
200 

43' 

0-37 

1100 
328 

Wurtemburg  State  lines.  . 
Budweis—  Linz  

100 
46 

45 
15 

0-011 

18    1 

Mineral  lines  worked  by 

Linz  —  Munden  

22 

0-09 

horse  power. 

Austrian  Northern  

300 

0-5 

620 

Vienne    Glognitz 

280 
130 

ISO' 

50(2) 

1-0 

0-18 

200(=) 

(2)  At  the  passage  of  the 

Murzuchslag—  Trieste.  .  .  . 

Semmering. 

Vienna  —  Prague  , 

150 

0-18 

Prague  —  Dresden  

100 

0-18 

300 
200 

I'll 

1-17 

950 

1030(3) 

(3)  On  the  Schweidnitz 
branch. 

Breslau  —  Fribourg  

Lower  Silesia  

300 

200 

0-7 

Berlin-Frankfort-sur-Oder 

114 

0-65 

Berlin—  Stettin  

230 

0-56 

Berlin—  Potsdam  

300 

0-9 

Anhalt  

300 

0-7 

Magdeburg—  Lcipsic  

300 

0-58 

Magdeburg—  Halberstadt.  . 
Dusseldorf—  Elberfeld   ... 

300 
130 

30(*) 

0-7 
0-7 

6CK) 

(*)  Self-acting  plane. 

Cologne—  Belgian  frontier 

200 

38(5) 

0-7 

350(8) 

(=)  Inclined  plane. 
(8)   At    Aix-la-Chapelle 

station. 

Lcipsic  —  Dresden  

200 

0-7 

430(9) 

(9)  At  Leipsic  station. 

Saxon-rBavarian  

200 

0-5 

Saxon—  Silesian  

140 

55(6) 

0-4 

(6)  At  Dresden  station. 

Brunswick—  Harzburg  

170 

46 

0-7 

Brunswick—  Magdeburg  .  . 
Brunswick—  Hanover  

400 
360 

0-8 

0-8 

75010) 

(i°)  At  Lherte  station. 

Hamburg—  Bergedorf  
Francfort—  Wiesbaden  .  .  . 

500 
270 

100(7) 

0-5 

(7)  At  Hamburg  station. 

In  the  first  and  third  columns  of  this  table  are  given  the  char- 
acteristic or  prevailing  gradients  and  radii;  and  in  the  second 
and  fourth  columns  are  given  those  which  occur  only  exception- 
ally, where  the  character  of  the  ground  rendered  them  inevita- 
ble. In  some  cases,  as,  for  example,  in  the  section  of  the  rail- 
way constructed  from  Brunswick  to  Harburg,  on  the  left  bank 
of  the  Elbe,  facing  Hamburg,  the  prevailing  gradient  is  1  in 
166  ;  but  in  one  section  of  this  line  extending  over  a  distance  of 
about  five  miles,  being  the  section  between  Hamburg  and  the 
station  of  Weinenburg,  there  is  a  series  of  gradients  which  vary 


398  RAILWAY  ECONOMY,  [CHAP.  XIX. 

from  1  in  100  to  1  in  50.  No  practical  difficulty,  however,  is 
encountered  in  the  regular  working  of  this  part  of  the  line  by 
locomotives  without  assistant  engines.  Trains  of  an  average 
gross  weight  of  sixty  or  seventy  tons  are  drawn  over  this  section 
by  locomotives  whose  weight  does  not  exceed  eighteen  tons, 
having  six  coupled  wheels  of  4  feet  9  inches  diameter. 

In  some  cases,  where  circumstances  favor  the  expedient, 
self-acting  planes  are  resorted  to.  An  example  of  this  occurs 
on  the  railway  between  Dusseldorf  and  Elberfeld,  where  a 
descent  of  a  mile  and  a  half  toward  Elberfeld  occurs  with  a 
gradient  of  1  in  30.  At  first  this  plane  was  worked  by  a  sta- 
tionary engine  and  endless  rope.  This,  however,  was  soon 
discontinued,  and  the  traffic  of  the  line  has  since  been  worked 
in  the  following  manner.  The  descending  train,  accompanied 
by  its  engine,  is  attached  to  the  upper  part  of  the  endless  rope, 
and  the  ascending  train,  also  accompanied  by  its  engine,  at  the 
same  time  to  the  lower  part.  Both  engines  continue  to  work, 
the  one  ascending  and  the  other  descending ;  and  the  one  train 
arrives  at  the  top  of  the  plane,  when  the  other  train  arrives  at 
the  bottom.  Thus  the  two  engines  are  made  to  co-operate  in 
drawing  the  ascending  train,  while  the  weight  of  the  descend- 
ing train  aids  in  the  operation.  The  regularity  of  this  process 
requires  that  the  trains  moving  in  different  directions  should  be 
ready  to  start  from  the  top  and  bottom  of  the  inclined  plane  at 
the  same  moment. 

Accidental  delays  in  the  movement  of  the  trains  are  subject 
to  interrupt  this ;  and  to  meet  such  exigencies  a  reserve  engine 
is  kept  with  its  steam  up  at  the  top  of  the  incline.  When  a 
train,  being  late,  arrives  at  the  bottom  of  the  plane,  and  requires 
to  ascend  it  without  the  aid  of  a  descending  train,  the  reserve 
engine  at,  the  top  of  the  plane  is  hooked  on  to  the  endless  rope, 
and  descending  in  this  manner,  co-operates  with  the  engine  at- 
tached to  the  train,  and  draws  it  up  to  the  top.  In  this  way 
the  regularity  and  continuity  of  the  service  is  maintained. 

The  economy  of  construction  of  the  German  railways  is 
further  promoted  by  the  conditions  observed  in  the  construction 
of  the  lines.  Although  a  sufficient  quantity  of  land  has  been 
invariably  purchased,  and  earth-works  and  works  of  art,  in  most 
cases,  constructed  of  sufficient  width  to  Jay  a  double  line,  one 
line  only  has  been  made,  except  in  the  immediate  neighborhood 
of  great  centres  of  population  and  industry,  where  a  traffic  suf- 
ficient to  employ  a  double  line  might  be  counted  on. 

The  gauge  of  the  railways,  with  one  or  two  exceptions,  is 


CHAP.  XIX.]  GERMAN  RAILWAYS.  399 

the  same  as  that  which  is  generally  adopted  in  England,  that  is 
to  say,  4  ft.  81  in.  between  the  inner  edges  of  the  rails.  The 
form  and  weight  of  the  rail  varies  according  to  the  traffic,  and 
to  the  varying  judgment  and  discretion  of  the  engineers.  Rails 
consisting  of  simple  iron  bars  nailed  down  on  longitudinal  planks 
of  wood,  such  as  have  been  extensively  adopted  in  America, 
have  been  used  in  some  cases,  among  which  may  be  mentioned 
a  section  of  the  Vienna  and  Glognitz  Railway,  the  section  first 
consti-ucted  of  the  Leipsic  and  Dresden  line,  and  a  mineral 
line  in  Austria  worked  by  horse  power,  between  Budweis, 
Linz,  and  Gmunden.  On  the  Leipsic  and  Dresden  lines,  these 
have  been  removed  and  replaced  by  heavier  rails,  and  it  is  prob- 
able a  like  change  has  already  taken  place  in  the  rails  on  the 
Vienna  and  Glognitz  line ;  so  that  the  only  German  railway  on 
which  this  system  of  iron  bars  is  used  as  rails  is  at  present  the 
mineral  line  above  mentioned. 

A  rail  of  the  form  used  on  the  Great  Western  Railway,  rep- 
resenting an  inverted  U,  supported  on  continuous  bearings,  and 
connected  by  transverse  sleepers  at  regular  intervals,  has  been 
adopted  on  four  lines  of  railway  in  Germany,  viz.,  the  Baden, 
the  Berlin  and  Frankfort,  the  Magdeburg  and  Leipsic,  and  the 
Upper  Silesian  lines.  On  the  two  last,  however,  they  have 
lately  been  removed,  and  now  are  continued  only  on  the  two 
former  railways. 

The  single  and  double  T  rails  have  obtained  more  favor,  and 
are  adopted,  in  one  form  or  other,  on  several  of  the  Ger- 
man lines ;  but  the  form  of  rail  which  is  most 
prevalent  is  that  which  passes  in  Germany  under 
the  name  of  the  American  rail,  the  transverse 
section  of  which  is  represented  in  the  annexed 
cut. 

In  the  following  table  (see  page  400)  is  exhibited  the  details 
of  the  construction  of  the  principal  German  lines.  The  letters 
in  the  first  column  indicate  the  form  of  the  rail.  That  which 
corresponds  to  the  rail  on  the  Great  Western  Railway  is  ex- 
pressed by  W,  the  single  T  rail  is  expressed  by  T,  and  the 
double  T  rail  by  TT. 

The  form  represented  in  the  preceding  section  is  expressed 
by  A,  and  the  flat  iron  bar  by  B.  In  the  second  column  is  rep- 
resented the  inclination  of  the  table  of  the  rail  inward ;  and  in 
the  third  and  fourth  its  length  and  weight.  The  weight  of  the 
chairs  is  exhibited  in  the  next  two  columns  ;  and  in  the  succeed- 
ing column  the  nature  of  the  supports  of  the  rails  is  denoted. 


400 


RAILWAY  ECONOMY. 


[CHAP.  XIX. 


In  the  first  of  these  columns,  the  letter  L  indicates  longitudi- 
nal and  continuous  bearings,  S  transverse  sleepers  at  regulated 
distances,  D  stone  blocks,  and  T  L  implies  longitudinal  con- 
tinuous bearings  with  transverse  ties  at  regulated  distances. 
In  the  last  column  of  the  table  is  given,  where  it  could  be  ob- 
tained, the  play  allowed  between  the  flanges  of  the  wheels  and 
the  inner  edge  of  the  rails,  which  varies  according  to  the  curves 
admitted  on  the  lines  : 


TABLE  showing  the  Dimensions,  Weight,  and  Form  of  the  Rails  and  their 
Supports  on  the  principal  Railways  of  the  Germanic  States. 

Rails. 

Weight 
Chain. 

Support  of  Rails. 

1 

Name  of  Railways. 

d 

Distance 

£ 

d 

Weight 

£ 

u£ 

I 

YP"d. 

t-a 

i 
C 

Sort. 

Sleepers 
or  Trans- 

1 

Beams. 

Baden  Railway: 
(Manheim—  Francfort)  .  . 
Wiirtemburg  State  lines.  .  . 

w 

A 

Ont 

18 

Feet. 
14-75 
15-00 

52-50 
53-50 

Ibt. 

3-3 

7-1 

/.-,,. 

L 

Feet. 
7-37 
2-50 

Ltchn. 

Nuremberg  —  Fiirth          .   . 

T 
T 

8 

14-40 
14-75 

28-00 
45-00 

13-6 
21-0 

li'i 

17-3 

D 

S 

2-40 
2-80 

Munich    Augsbur<* 

Bavarian  State  lines  

TT 

40 

16-75 

47-50 

25-3 

19-7 

D&S 

2-80 

o-Vo 

Hudweis  —  Linz  

B 

9-33 

5-00 

L 

6-20 

Maine—  Neustadt  

A 

18 

18-25 

52-00 

12-3    .. 

L  ) 

Neustadt  —  Glognitz  
Austrian  Northern  

1! 
T 

18 
24 

15-55 

31-00 
42-50 

19-8  j  13-6 

S 

4*14 
2-60 

0-55 

Upper  Silesian  

A 

16 

18-50 

53-50 

3-5 

S 

3-10 

0-55 

Breslau—  Fribourg  

A 

it; 

18-50 

00-00 

s 

3-00 

Berlin—  Frnncfort  

W 

Hi 

50-00 

L 

4-10 

0-55 

Rerlin—  Stettin  

A 

16 

18-50 

50-50 

S 

2-66 

0-27 

Berlin—  Potsdam  

T 

15-45 

45-00 

23-7 

17-5 

8 

3-10 

0-55 

Anhalt  

TT 

32 

49-00 

S 

3-10 

0-70 

Magdeburg  —  Leipsic  
Magdeburg—  Halberstadt  .  . 
Dusseldorf—  Elberfeld  

A 
A 
T 

16 
16 

18-50 
15-40 
15-00 

52-50 
59-00 
49-50 

lV-5 

I  t;'l 

S 
TL 
TL 

3-10 
3-10 

2-70 

0-27 

Cologne  —  Belgian  frontier  . 
Cologne—  Bonn  
Leip§ic—  Dresden  
Saxon  —  Bavarian  

T 
A 
A 
A 

20 

16 

15-40 
17-90 

51-50 
63-00 
51-60 
59-00 

23-ri 

•M'-l 

S 
S 

s 
s 

3-10 
3-10 
2-33 
3-00 

0-55 

lirunswick—  Magdeburg.  .  . 
Brunswick—  Hanover  

A 
A 

15-00 
17-90 

63-50 
64-50 

l'l-3 

s 
s 

3-00 
3-00 

0-55 
0-27 

Hamburg  —  Bergedorf  
Altona—  Kiel  

A 
A 

61-50 
56-50 

Francfort—  Wiesbaden  

TT 

15-40 

59-00 

24-2 

21-0 

s' 

3-00 

Manheim—  Francfort  

A 

16-40 

70-00 

s 

2-73 

The  cost  of  construction  of  the  system  of  German  railways 
is,  as  might  be  expected  from  these  and  other  local  circum- 
stances, incomparably  less  than  in  other  parts  of  Europe,  and 
will  not  exceed  in  a  considerable  proportion  that  of  the  railways 
of  the  United  States.  I  have  given  in  the  following  table  the 


CHAP.  XIX.] 


GERMAN  RAILWAYS. 


estimated  expense  of  the  construction  of  the  railways,  obtained 
from  the  most  authentic  sources,  up  to  the  year  1847 : 


TABLE  showing  the  estimated  Cost  of  Construction  of  the  Railways  of 
the  Germanic  States  completed,  in  Progress,  and  Projected. 

Railways. 

Lines  constructed  by 
the  State. 

Lines  constructed  by 
Compames. 

Totals  and  Averages. 

Total  Cost 

Cost  per 
Mile 

Total  Cost 

Cost  per 
Mile. 

Total  Cost. 

isr 

Completed          

10,080,858 
16,992,867 

7,844,844 
5,828,571 
40,747,140 

12,554 
14,624 

12,038 
11,631 
13,069 

20,507,539 
11,335,531 

6,074,301 
13,758,676 
51,676,047 

10,122 
11,613 

9,387 
9,689 

30,588,397 
28,328,398 

13,919,145 
19,587,245 

£. 
10,813 
13,203 

10,715 
10,186 
11,289 

Adopted  but  not  com- 
menced   
Contemplated  but  not 

10,197 

92,423,187 

It  appears  from  the  preceding  statement,  that  the  capital 
absorbed  by  the  railways  which  had  been  completed  up  to  the 
date  of  the  reports  we  have  quoted,  which  are  the  most  recent 
we  have  obtained  of  an  authentic  and  exact  character,  was  at  the 
average  rate  of  something  less  than  <£1 1,000  per  mile ;  but  it  is 
probable  that  these  lines  had  not  yet  absorbed  their  full  amount 
of  capital.  It  appears  further,  that  the  estimated  expenses  of 
the  lines  in  progress  were  greater  than  those  which  had  been 
executed,  being  at  the  average  rate  of  upward  of  ,£13,000  per 
mile.  We  shall  probably  not  depart  widely  from  the  truth, 
if  we  estimate  the  entire  extent  of  railways  in  the  German 
States,  constructed  and  to  be  constructed,  at  the  rate  of  d£13,000 
per  mile,  including  in  that  amount  the  cost  of  stock  as  well  as 
the  cost  of  construction.  This  rate  of  expense  is  scarcely  one 
third  of  the  cost  per  mile  of  the  English  railways. 

The  expenditure  of  thirty  millions,  which  had  been  made 
previously  to  1847,  had  been  spread  over  nine  years,  being  at 
the  average  rate  of  three  millions  and  one  third  per  annum, 
2828  miles  of  railway  having  been  then  completed.  In  the 
three  years  ending  31st  December  last,  1720  miles  of  additional 
lines  had  been  opened,  being  at  the  average  rate  of  570  miles 
per  annum,  which,  being  estimated  at  ^612,000  per  mile,  would 
give  an  annual  expenditure  by  the  German  States  of  ^66,800,000 
per  annum,  being  just  double  the  average  annual  expenditure 
of  the  preceding  nine  years.  It  is,  however,  to  be  observed 
here,  that  although  the  average  expenditure  of  the  nine  years 
preceding  1847  was  only  three  millions  and  one  third,  yet  the 
chief  part  of  this  expenditure  had  been  incufred  within  the  la.st 


402 


RAILWAY  ECONOMY. 


[CHAP.  XIX. 


four  of  these  nine  years ;  and,  consequently,  it  is  probable  that 
the  entire  rate  of  expenditure  in  the  three  years  ending  31st 
December,  1849,  did  not  on  the  whole  much  exceed  the  aver- 
age annual  expenditure  of  the  years  immediately  preceding. 

The  comparatively  low  rate  of  cost  of  the  German  railways 
has  arisen  from  several  causes,  some  of  which  we  have  already 
indicated.  The  absence  of  expensive  earth-works  and  works 
of  art,  while  it  caused  a  considerable  diminution  of  the  cost  of 
construction,  might  be  expected  to  create  difficulties  in  the 
working  of  the  lines.  Nevertheless,  the  German  engineers 
were  reassured  on  this  subject  by  what  they  had  witnessed  in 
several  parts  of  the  United  States,  and  more  especially  on  the 
line  which  connects  Boston  and  Albany.  They  did  not,  there- 
fore, hesitate  to  admit  a  system  of  gradients  and  curves,  where 
the  character  of  the  country  rendered  it  necessary,  which  are 
nowhere  seen  on  the  railways  of  England,  France,  or  Belgium. 

The  low  comparative  cost  of  construction  of  the  German  rail- 
ways was  also  influenced  by  the  low  price  of  the  land  occupied 
by  the  lines  and  stations,  the  low  price  of  materials,  and  the 
low  rate  of  wages  of  manual  labor.  In  order  to  render  manifest 
how  far  these  causes  operated,  I  have  exhibited,  in  the  follow- 
ing table,  the  average  cost  per  acre  of  the  land,  and  the  average 
wages  per  day  of  the  laborers  employed  in  earth-work  on  the 
principal  lines : 


TABLE  showing  the  average  Cost  of  Land  per  Acre,  and  the  average 
Wages  of  Earth-work  Laborers  per  Day  on  the  principal  German 
Railways. 

Railways 

Cost  of  Land  per 
Acre. 

Wages  of  Laborers 
per  Day. 

B  aden 

£. 

143-0 
47-0 
69-2 
63-0 
46-0 
53-5 
70-0 
95-5 
53-0 

d. 
14-5 

7-8 

15-6 

13-0 
15-6 

9-5 

Upper  Silesia 

Anhalt... 

Berlin    Stettin 

Dusseldorf  —  Elberfeld 

Cologne  —  Belgian  frontier  

It  would  .be  important  to  ascertain  the  proportion  in  which 
the  cost  of  construction  of  the  German  lines  has  been  shared 
among  the  different  heads  of  expenses,  such  as  the  cost  of  land, 
the  road  structure,  the  stations,  and  the  stock.  I  have  not  been 


CHAP.  XIX.] 


GERMAN  RAILWAYS. 


403 


able  to  obtain,  in  every  case,  complete  data  for  this  purpose;  but 
io  the  following  table  the  expenses  of  construction  and  stock  of 
several  of  the  principal  lines  are  exhibited  under  their  respective 
heads  : 


TABLE  showing  the  Cost  of  Construction  per  running  Mile  of  each  of  the 
principal  German  Railways,  with  the  Share  of  the  total  Expenses  as- 
signed to  each  Head. 

Earth- 

Stations, 

Railways. 

Surveys 
and  Land. 

Works  of 
Art,  and 

Road 
Structure. 

K±2 

of  Land 

Stock. 

Direction 
and  Man- 

Total. 

Fences. 

for  them. 



Baden...  

1,445 

3,478 

2,625 

1,957 

1,983 

276 

11,764 

Nuremberg—  Fiirth  .... 
Munich-Augsburg.... 
Austrian  Xorthern  

829 
1,042 
745 

163 

3,485 
2,030 

1,800 
2,966 
3,190 

438 
318 
642 

593 
810 
1,092 

354 
434 

104 

4,177 
9,055 

7,823 

Berlin  —  Frankfort-sur- 

Oder  

920 

1,365 

2,272 

1,178 

1,384 

399 

7,518 

Berlin—  Stettin  ...:  

550 

1,770 

1,835 

750 

975 

388 

6,268 

Berlin—  Potsdam  

1,940 

2,110 

2,760 

2,222 

3,300 

194 

12,526 

Bei  lin—  Kothen  

607 

2,020 

2,485 

582 

1,052 

304 

7,050 

Magdeburg-Halberstadt 
Bonn—  Cologne  

616 
1,965 

650 

885 

2,170 
2,118 

733 
839 

895 
1,610 

299 

5,273 

7,417 

Saxon  —  Bavarian  

1,085 

3,850 

1,854 

990 

1,248 

303 

9,330 

The  sufficiency  of  single  lines  for  the  maintenance  of  the 
traffic  generally  throughout  the  German  States  will  at  once 
suggest  the  fact,  that  the  amount  of  the  traffic  is  small  com- 
paratively with  that  which  prevails  on  the  English  and  some 
of  the  continental  lines.  The  mode  of  working  the  traffic  has 
generally  relation  to  its  amount.  On  the  single  lines,  sidings 
are  provided,  as  in  America,  at  convenient  intervals,  and  trains 
proceeding  in  contrary  directions  run  into  these,  the  first  which 
arrives  waiting  for  the  passage  of  that  which  is  about  to  meet  it. 
No  practical  inconvenience  ensues  from  this,  since  the  traffic 
does  not  require  the  frequent  departures  which  are  necessary 
upon  English,  French,  and  Belgian  railways.  On  the  German 
railways,  three  departures  per  day  for  passenger  trains,  and  one 
or  two  for  mixed  trains  of  passengers  and  goods,  are  generally 
sufficient. 

In  passing  from  railway  to  railway  under  the  administration 
of  different  companies,  or  through  the  territory  of  different 
states,  the  passengers  are  generally  obliged  to  change  carriages ; 
but  arrangements  are  in  most  cases  made,  by  which  they  may 
book  their  places  and  obtain  tickets  to  their  ultimate  destination, 
so  that  no  further  payment  of  fare  or  examination  of  luggage  is 
necessary.  Thus,  at  the  Berlin  station  of  the  Anhalt  railway, 
tickets  and  baggage  may  be  booked  for  Brunswick,  and  the  pas- 
sengers will  then  be  carried  through  without  further  trouble, 
except  occasionally  changing  carriages. 


404  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XIX. 

On  the  German  railways  there  are,  as  on  those  in  England, 
three  classes  of  passengers,  the  first,  second,  and  third,  and  in 
some  cases  even  a  fourth  class,  with  corresponding  degrees  of 
accommodation  in  the  vehicles  of  transport;  but  no  such  classifi- 
cation prevails  as  to  the  trains.  There  are  no  express,  or  first 
and  second-class  trains,  as  in  England,  distinguished  from  third- 
class  trains.  Passengers  of  all  the  classes  are  indifferently  taken 
in  each. 

There  are  mixed  trains,  by  which  goods  and  passengers  are 
indifferently  carried,  and  in  general  these  only  take  goods.  On 
a  few  railways,  however,  there  are  trains  exclusively  devoted  to 
merchandise.  The  "  mixed  trains"  on  the  German  railways, 
mean  those  which  carry  passengers  and  goods  indifferently. 

In  order  to  show  the  movement  of  the  trains  which  generally 
prevails  on  the  German  railways,  I  have  exhibited  in  the  follow- 
ing table  the  number  of  each  kind  running  daily  in  each  direc- 
tion, on  fifteen  principal  railways.  In  the  first  column  is  indi- 
cated by  the  letter  T  such  as  run  through  from  terminus  to 
terminus  over  the  entire  length  of  the  lines,  and  by  the  letter  I 
such  as  ply  to  intermediate  stations.  The  numbers  in  the  other 
columns  indicate  the  number  of  those  respectively  which  start 
from  each  station  daily. 


TABLE  showing  the  Number  of  Trains  daily  which  depart  from  each  of 
the  Termini  of  the  under-mentioned  principal  German  Railways,  dis- 
tinguishing those  which  go  from  Terminus  to  Terminus  from  those 
which  ply  to  intermediate  Stations. 

Hallways. 

Indication  of 
Distance. 

Number  of  Trains. 

Passenger  Trains. 

Mixed. 

Goods. 

Alton  a    Kiel 

T 
T 
T 
T 
I 
T 
I 
T 
I 
T 
T 
T 
T 
I 
T 
T 
I 
T 
I 
T 

2 
2 
2 
4 
2 
3 

2 

3 
3 
2 
1 
1 
2 
2 
3 
6 
2 

I 

2 
1 
1 
1 
4 
2 
2 

2 
1 

1 

1 
1 

Berlin     Kothen              

Magdeburg  —  Leipsic  
Halle'    Eisenach 

Brunswick  —  Hartzburg  
Leipsic  —  Dresden  : 

Leipsic  —  Reichenbach  
Berlin    Breslau 

B  reslau  —  My  slowitz  . 

° 

i 

i 
i 

Manheim—  Fribourg  
Vienna  —  Leipsic  

CHAP.  XIX.j  GERMAN  RAILWAYS.  405 

It  will  be  seen  from  this  table,  that,  in  general,  on  the  German 
lines  the  number  of  trains  daily  in  each  direction  does  not  exceed 
four.  The  railways  which  form  exceptions  to  this  are  short 
lines  diverging  from  chief  cities,  such  as  Vienna,  Berlin,  or 
Leipsic,  which  serve  as  excursions  for  the  population  of  these 
towns,  analogous  to  the  Greenwich,  Blackwall,  and  other  short 
lines  diverging  from  London,  or  the  Versailles  and  St.  Germain 
lines  from  Paris. 

When  railways  in  the  German  states  were  first  brought  into 
operation,  considerable  difficulty  was  encountered  in  obtaining 
locomotive  power  and  carrying  stock,  and  engineers  were  sent 
by  their  respective  governments  to  England  and  America,  for 
the  purpose  of  obtaining  the  information,  and  making  contracts 
for  engines  and  vehicles  of  transport. 

A  considerable  stock  was  soon  obtained,  and  a  still  greater 
number  were  ordered.  Before  the  end  of  1845,  237  engines 
had  been  delivered  by  the  principal  engine-builders  in  England, 
of  which  168  were  supplied  by  Messrs.  Stephenson  of  New- 
castle, and  Messrs.  Sharp  and  Roberts  of  Manchester.  Upward 
of  30  were  then  under  order  in  England,  but  not  yet  delivered, 
57  engines  had  been  obtained  from  the  manufactory  of  Messrs. 
Norris  of  Philadelphia,  43  from  the  Belgian  manufacturers,  and 
25  from  Messrs.  Meyer  and  Co.  of  Mullhouse,  in  France. 

The  senior  partner  of  Messrs.  Norris  of  Philadelphia  was 
induced  to  remove  to  Germany,  and  to  establish  a  factory  of 
locomotive  engines  near  Vienna,  from  which  a  considerable 
number  of  engines  have  already  been  obtained. 

The  expense  and  disadvantage  of  importing  soon,  however, 
stimulated  domestic  talent  and  industry;  and  there  are  now 
established  in  Germany  several  extensive  factories  for  the  con- 
struction of  locomotive  engines,  among  which  may  be  mentioned 
those  of  Messrs.  Kessler  at  Carlsruhe,  Hirschau  at  Munich,  the 
factory  of  the  Vienna  and  Glognitz  Railway,  that  of  Mr.  Norris 
at  Vienna,  the  Wyener  and  Neustadt  factory  near  Vienna,  that 
of  Boi-sig  at  Berlin,  and  several  others  of  minor  importance  at 
Berlin,  Magdeburg,  Aix-la-Chapelle,  Chemnitz,  &c. 

Before  the  end  of  1845,  125  engines  had  been  delivered  from 
the  German  factories,  to  which  a  large  number  has  since  been 
added. 

In  the  following  table  are  shown  the  dimensions  of  the  engines 
generally  used  on  the  principal  German  railways  : 


406 


RAILWAY  ECONOMY. 


[CHAP.  XIX. 


TABLE  showing  the  Dimensions  of'the  Locomotive  Engines  used  on  the 
principal  German  Railways. 

Diameter  of  cylinders  

Baden. 

Bavaria. 

Austria. 

ft-       in. 
0      13 
0      18 
5        6 
3        7 
3        1 
12        0 
150 
0        1-6 
3        2 
3        2 
4        0 
60  sq.ft. 
765     „ 
825     „ 
18  tons. 

f'.        in. 

0      13 
0      24 
6        0 
3        7 
3        4 
12        4 
121 
0        1-6 
3      10 
3        6 
3      10 
57J  sq.  ft. 
658       „ 
715£     „ 
17-2  tons. 

4  i"2 

0     24 
5       0 
3       0 
3       4 
9       0 
111 
0       1-60 

54  sq.  ft. 

463     „ 
517     „ 
14-6  tons. 

^     13 
0     25 

4       2 
2       7 
3       8 
12       6 
115 
0       2-00 

Ml*  ft. 

834J     „ 
17  tons. 

Stroke  of  pistons  
Diameter  of  driving-wheels  
Diameter  of  supporting-wheels  
Diameter  of  boiler  

Length  of  boiler  
Number  of  tubes  
Internal  diameter  of  tubes  
Fire-box  length  

„        breadth  . 

height  
Heating  surface  of  fire-box  
Heating  surface  of  tubes  

Weight  of  engine 

Table  [B]  referred  to  in  page  407. 


TABLE  showing  the  Magnitude   and  average  Cost  of  the  Vehicles   of 
Transport  used  on  the  principal  German  Railways. 

Designation  of  Vehicles. 

No.  of 
Places. 

Cost  of  Con- 
struction. 

Cost  per 
Place. 

PASSENGER  STOCK. 

18 
30 
36 

40 
40 
48 
60 
60 
70 
70 
120 

Capacity. 

l"5' 
7-5 
4-5 
4-5 
7-5 
12-5 
12-5 

£. 
276 
217 
166 
346 
287 
235 
485 
338 
279 
545 
472 
332 

113 
181 
69-6 
77-0 
99-5 
311-0 
261-0 
111 
89 
260 

£. 
15-3 

7-24 
4-6 
10-8 
7-17 
5-9 
10-1 
5-64 
4-66 
7-8 
6-75 
2-7S 

Copper 

25-2 
24-2 
15-4 
17-1 
13-25 
24-9 
21-0 

„                  „           2d  class  

„                   „            3d  class  

„                              2d  class 

3d  class 

Six-wheeled  do.              1st  class  

„                  „           2d  class  
,                  „           3d  class 

Eight-wheeled  American  do.—  1st  class  
„                  ,.                  2d  class  
„                 „                 3d  class  

GOODS  STOCK. 

Four-wheeled  do.  covered  .-.:  

Six-wheeled  do.  uncovered  
Eight-wheeled  do.  covered  

Eight-wheeled  cattle-wagons  

CHAP.  XIX.]  GERMAN  RAILWAYS.  407 

The  vehicles  of  transport  for  passengers  and  goods  on  the 
German  railways  are  very  various. 

Passenger  carriages  similar  to  those  used  in  England,  Bel- 
gium, and  in  France,  are  adopted  on  many  German  lines. 

The  passenger  vehicles  used  in  the  United  States,  already 
described  in  Chapter  XII.,  are  also  extensively  used.  These 
carriages  measure  from  25  to  35  feet  in  length,  and  accom- 
modate from  70  to  120  passengers.  The  goods  wagons,  of 
like  construction,  are  capable  of  carrying  upward  of  twelve 
tons. 

There  are  also  passenger  vehicles  supported  on  six  wheels, 
and  consisting  of  six  compartments,  each  first-class  compartment 
accommodating  eight,  and  each  second  or  third-class  compart- 
ment accommodating  ten  passengers. 

In  the  Table  [B]  (see  page  406)  are  given  the  dimensions, 
capacity,  and  cost  of  construction  of  the  several  classes  of 
vehicles  for  the  transport  of  passengers  and  goods  on  the  prin- 
cipal German  lines. 

In  order  to  show  the  movement  of  traffic  in  passengers  and 
goods  on  the  German  railways,  I  have  obtained  such  official 
returns  as  have  been  published  for  the  year  1846,  which  is  the 
latest  period  for  which  returns  have  been  made.  These  are 
given  in  the  following  table;  the  passenger  and  goods  traffic 
being  distinguished,  and  the  quantity,  mileage,  and  receipts  of 
each  class  being  given  : 


TABULAR  ANALYSIS  of  the  average  daily  Traffic  in  Passengers  and  Goods 
on  the  under-mentioned  German  Railways  during  the  Year  1846. 

RaUways. 

Length. 

Passenger  Traffic. 

Goods  Traffic. 

Number 
of  Pas- 

booked. 

MQeage. 

Re 

ceipts. 

Num- 
berof 
Tons 
booked. 

Mileage. 

Re- 
ceipts. 

1  Altona    Kiel  

65-50 
142-00 

81-00 
99-00 

1,084 
6,230 

1,108  > 
1,254  1 

937 

24,635 
82,013 

37,140 
51.520 

£. 
77-5 

258-0 

J67-5 
,56-3 

186-0 

220 

275 

60-0 
55-0 

133-0 

4,550 
23,850 

(v» 

10,750 

<£. 

72-0 

189-0 

J  27-4 
1  18-0 

95-0 

2.  Baden  —  Manheim  —  Fri- 

3.  Bavarian  : 
(Munich—  Donauworth)  . 
Nuremberg  —  Neuuiarket) 
4.  Berlin-Anhalt: 
(Berlin—  Kothen)  •  

408 


RAILWAY  ECONOMY. 


[CHAP.  XIX. 


Railways. 

Length. 

Passenger  Traffic. 

Goods  Traffic. 

Number 
of  Pas- 

bSJfecL 

184 
1,380 

1,222 
1,540 

645 

1,852 
976 

265 
519 

1,040 

2,016 
1,338 

1,523 
1,450 
1,069 

1,090 
860 

•    214 

1,490 
835 

418 
2,180 

3,350 

158 

131 

Mileage. 

6,152 

28,600 

43,200 
21,620 

15,900 

18,120 
11,472 
1,910 
4,600 

22,250 

90,640 
44,850 

45,120 
4,900 
35,280 

26,400 
39,360 
3,500 

33,300 
23,350 
9,200 
28,150 

48,720 
1,776 

1,356 

Re- 
ceipts. 

£. 
19-4 

103-0 

136-0 
68-0 

46-0 

75-5 
47-8 
6-0 
15-3 

70-0 

336-0 
156-0 

188-0 

130 

102-0 

110-0 
164-0 
11-8 

154-0 
750 
32-0 
98-0 

203<0 
7-4 

8-6 

Num- 
ber of 
TODS 
booted 

Mileage. 

Re- 
ceipts. 

176-00 
90-00 

104-20 
61-50 

41-35 

39-00 
16-25 
10-40 
10-00 

71-00 

188-00 
71-30 

240-00 
3-50 
124-00 

144-00 
152'00 
20-80 

53-30 
65-50 
49-30 
28-30 

49-90 
25-50 

19-70 

154-0 
166-0 

154-0 
43-3 

186-0 

432-0 
166-0 

123-0 
1980 

221-0 
181-0 
28-0 

521-0 
189-0 

22-0 

233-0 
15-0 

25-0 

505 
2,150 

4,870 
5,430 

2,550 

200 
2,130 
J77 

4,145 

31,840 
11,700 

8,450 
6,380 

8,720 
10,640 
410 

16,280 
7,100 
1,254 
123 

7,440 
264 

348 

£. 

8-0 

19-4 

77-0 
48-0 

33-0 

3-5 
37-3 
2-8 
1-4 

36-6 

398-0 
112-0 

109-0 
0-06 
101-0 

109-0 
133-0 
6-5 

129-0 

68-0 
12-0 
10-3 

93-0 
33 

5-5 
1915-7  j 

6.  Berlin—  Potsdam-rMagde- 

7.  Berlin  —  Stettin  —  .Star- 

8.  Brunswick  Railway  
9.  Breslau  —  Schweidnitz  — 

10.  Cologne—  Minden: 
(Cologne—  Duisburg)  
11.  Dusseldorf  —  Elberfeld... 
12.  Gluckstadt  —  Elmshorn  .  . 
13.  Hamburg—  Bergedorf  .... 
14.  Hanoverian  Railway  : 
(Hanover  —  Brunswick  ) 
Hildesheim—  Celle)...  J 
15.  Austrian  Northern: 
{Vienna-BrUnn-Olmutz  > 
Leipsic—  Stockerau)  .  .  .  j 

17.  Lower  Silesian  : 
(Breslau—  Berlin  ) 
Kohlfurt—  Gorlitz)  $ 
18.  Nuremberg—  FUrth  
19.  Breslau  —  Myslowitz  
20.  Austrian  States  Railway  : 
(Murzusclag—  Cilli  
Olmutz—  Prague)  
21.  Rendsburg—  Neuminster  . 
22.  Rhenish  Railway  : 
(Cologne  —  Belgian  frontier) 
23.  Saxon—  Bavarian  : 
Leipsic—  Reichenbach)  .. 
24.  Saxon—  Silesian  : 

25.  Tauiius  Railway  : 
(Francfort-  Wiesbaden)  . 
26.  Vienna-Glognitz: 

Vienna—  BrUck  
27.  William's  Railway: 
(Kosel-Ratisbor)  

2304-40 

39.768 

778,634  [3061-1 

3800-0 

176,263 

From  the  i-esults  of  this  table  we  can  deduce  the  average 
distance  over  which  each  passenger  and  each  ton  of  goods 
was  carried,  the  average  receipts  obtained  per  head  or  per  ton 
booked,  and  the  average  receipts  per  head  or  per  ton  per 
mile. 

Theso  are  exhibited  in  the  following  table : 


CHAP.  XIX.] 


GERMAN  RAILWAYS. 


409 


TABLE  showing  the  average  Distance  carried  and  the  average  Receipts 
obtained,  per  Head  or  per  Ton  per  Mile,  from  the  Passengers  and  Goods 
transported  on  the  principal  German  Railways  under-named  during  the 

Year  1846. 

Passengers. 

Goods. 

Railway* 

Average 
Distance 

Average 

Receipts 

KectTfts 

Average 

Average 

Average 

traveled 

per  Pas- 

per  Pas- 

Distance 

KIT,.;,,:., 

Receipts 

per  Pa3. 
seuger. 

booked. 

*'g«ePe 

per  Ton. 

per  Ton 
booked. 

per  Ton 
per  Mile. 

Milet. 

it. 

d. 

Mila. 

(i 

rf. 

Altona  —  Kiel  

22-7 

17-2 

0-75 

20-7 

78-0 

3-80 

Baden  —  Manheim—  Fribourg 

132 

10-0 

075 

87-0 

165-0 

1-90 

Munich—  Uonauworth  .. 
Nuremberg  —  Neumarket  .  .  . 
Berlin—  Anhalt  

|  15-75 
55-0 

12-6 
47-5 

0-80 
0-87 

50-0 
81-0 

94-0 
1720 

1-90 
2-12 

Berlin—  Hamburg...  

33-0 

23-3 

0-75 

3-80 

Berlin—  Postdam-  Magdeburg 

20-7 

17-9 

0-86 

2-16 

Berlin—  Stettin—  Stargard  .  . 
Brunswick  Railway.   ..... 

354 
14-5 

26-8 
10-6 

0-75 
0-75 

31-6 

120-0 

3-80 
2-11 

Breslau  —  Schweidnitz  —  Fri 

bourg  

24-6 

17-0 

0-69 

154 

48-0 

3-10 

Cologne—  Minden  ...   
Dusseldorf—  Elberfeld  

9-75 
11-75 

9-8 
11-8 

1-00 
1-00 

139 

58"-0 

4-20 
4-20 

Gluckstadt  —  Elinshorn  

7-20 

5-4 

075 

41-0 

15-6 

3-80 

Hamburg—  Bergedor/'  
Hanoverian  Railway  

8-9 
21-3 

7-0 
16-1 

0-80 
075 

22-3 

47-0 

2-h 

Austrian  Northern  

45-0 

40-0 

0-89 

740 

222-0 

3-0 

Leipsic  —  Dresden  

33-6 
29-7 

28-0 

0-83 
1-00 

70-0 
690 

161-0 
213-0 

2-3 

Lower  bilesian 

3-0 

2-1 

064 

Sreslau—  Myslowitz  

33-1 

22-9 

0-69 

32-2 

123-0 

3-8 

24*2 

24-2 

1-00 

39-5 

118-0 

3'0 

Au     i<  n  p  '.  a..p 

45-6 
16-3 

47-2 
13-2 

1-03 
0-81 

58-0 
14-6 

173-0 
57-0 

2-9 
3-9 

Rensburg—  Neuminster  

Rhenish  Railway  

224 

24-8 

Ml 

31-0 

59-0 

1-9 

Saxon—  Bavarian  

28-0 

21-5 

0-77 

37-6 

86-0 

2-3 

Saxon  —  Silesian  

22-0 

18-4 

0-85 

2-3 

Fauniis  Railway  

13-0 

10-8 

0-83 

nV-o 

Vienna-Glognitz  (trunk  line) 
(Henna  —  Brack  

14-5 
11-2 

14-5 
11-2 

1-00 
1-00 

32-0 
17-6 

96-0 
53.0 

3-6 
3-0 

William's  Railway  

10-5 

16-2 

1-56 

13-9 

53-0 

3-0 

General  averages  — 

19-6 

18-5 

0-93 

46-4 

121-0 

2-6 

It  will  be  observed,  in  these  results  of  the  passenger  traffic, 
that  the  average  receipts  per  passenger  per  mile  very  little  ex- 
ceed the  tariff  for  the  third-class  passengers.  This  is  explained 
by  the  fact  that  the  third  class  constitutes  a  very  large  proportion 
of  the  entire  number  of  passengers  booked,  a  much  larger  pro- 
portion than  prevails  on  the  railways  worked  in  the  Western 
states  of  Europe. 

To  demonstrate  this,  I  have  given  in  the  following  table  the 
proportion  of  each  class  of  passengers  booked  for  the  principal 
German  railways : 

S 


410 


RAILWAY  ECONOMY. 


[CHAP.  XIX. 


TABULAR  ANALYSIS  showing  the  Number  of  Passengers  belonging  to 
each  Class  in  every  100  booked  oil  Sixteen  of  the  principal  German 
Railways. 

1st  Class. 

3-42 
5-28 
1-10 
1-00 
0-97 
1-80 
8-16 
2-88 
1-80 
2-00 
3-08 
13-74 
3-32 
0-72 
0-70 
1-65 

Sd  Class. 

3d  Class. 

69-18 
83-35 
85-00 
81-10 
71-31 
68-00 
65-68 
75-65 
80-26 
63-23 
51-18 
76-98 
87-64 
89-62 
87-13 

Total. 

100-00 
100-00 
100-00 

100-00 

100-00 
100-00 
100-00 
100-00 
100-00 
100-00 

10000 
100-00 

100-00 
100-00 
100-00 
100-00 

100.00 

,  —  _ 

24-37 
25-54 
15-55 
14-00 
17-93 
26-89 
23-84 
31-44 
22-55 
17-74 
33-69 
35-08 
19-70 
11-64 
9.69 
11-22 

Vienna  and  Glognitz  
Breslau  and  Opeln  
Breslau  and  Fribourg 

Berlin  and  Francfort-sur-Oder  
Berlin  and  Stettin  

Berlin  and  Potsdam  

Dusseldorf  and  Elberfeld  

Bonn  and  Cologne  

Hamburg  and  Bergedorf  
Francfort  and  Wiesbaden  

3-60 

22-40 

74-00 

It  follows,  therefore,  that  there  are  not  four  passengers  in 
every  hundred  on  the  German  railways  that  take  the  first-class 
places,  and  that  74  per  cent,  of  all  the  passengers  booked  belong 
to  the  third  class. 

The  following  are  the  average  fares  chargeable  per  mile  on 
the  three  classes  of  passengers  on  the  German  lines : 

d. 

1st  class 1-62 

2d  class 1-13 

3d  class 0'79 

The  following  are  the  average  tariffs  per  mile  for  other  objects 
of  transport  on  the  German  railways : 

d, 

Carriages 8'  1 

Horses  5'0 

Cattle  per  head 1'56 

Sheep  per  head 0'18 

Goods:  df 

Not  classed  per  ton 6'85 

1st  class 3-47 

2d  class 2-53 

3d  class 2'40 

The  traffic  on  the  German  railways,  as  elsewhere,  is  subject 
to  variation  arising  from  local  circumstances. 

This  variation  is  shown  in  the  following  table  in  which  the 
gross  receipts  per  mile  of  railway  and  per  cent,  of  capital  in  the 


CHAP   XIX.] 


GERMAN  RAILWAYS. 


411 


four  years  terminating  31st  December,  1846,  on  eighteen  of  the 
principal  German  railways,  are  given  : 


TABLE  showing  the  average  Receipts  per  Mile  and  per  Cent,  of  Cost  of 
Construction  on  the  under-mentioned  Railways  during  the  Four  suc- 
cessive Years  ending  December,  1846. 

RaUway. 

Receipts  per  Mile  of  Railway. 

Receipts  per  Cent  of  Capital. 

1843. 

1844. 

1845. 

1846. 

1843. 

1844. 

1845. 

1846. 

Nuremberg  —  Furth  
Vienna—  Glognitz  
Austrian  —  Northern  
Upper  Silesian  (Breslau— 
Myslowitz)  
Breslau  —  Fribourg  
Berlin—  Francfort  
Berlin—  Stettin  

1,300 

1,898 
806 

489 

840 
682 

1,300 
2,000 
863 

487 
560 
862 
744 

1,390 
2,120 
1,050 

643 
623 

1,410 

2,428 
1,420 

599 
696 

752 

24-75 
8-70 
8-15 

12-40 

10'56 
9-48 
12-96 
14-46 
15-20 
7-85 
565 

4-60 
9-35 

7-98 
5-34 
11-85 

24-75 
9-15 
8-73 

12-35 

7-82 
10-84 
10-35 
13-80 
14-46 
15-50 
8-70 
5-84 
10-90 
6-58 
9-53 
7-32 
4-91 
11-95 

26-48 
9-70 
10-60 

8-97 
8-64 

13-00 
15-78 
10-08 
6-98 
11-76 
7-35 
10-00 
5-18 
4-43 
12-75 

2685 
11-10 
14-35 

15-20 
974 

10-44 

13-72 
17-80 
12-06 
834 
12-35 
8.35 
10-86 
8-60 
4-46 
1390 

Berlin—  Kothen  
Magdeburg—  Leipsic    .  .  . 
Magdeburg—  Hal  berstadt 
Dusseldorf—  Elberfeld.  .  . 

1,085 
1,352 
495 
1,310 

1,085 
1,395 
548 
1,353 
980 
1,528 
1,210 
683 
660 
1,385 

977 
1,420 
634 
1,618 
1.058 
1,704 
1,270 
483 
595 
1,478 

1,030 
1,600 
760 
1,932 
1,110 
1,940 
1,380 
802 
600 
1,610 

Cologne  —  Herbestal  
Leipsic—  Dresden  
Saxon  —  Bavarian  
Hamburg—  Bergedorf  .  .  . 
Francfort—  Wiesbaden.  . 

1,068 
1,183 
743 
716 
1,376 

1846. 
2,738 
2.049.231 

748 


I  have  obtained  exact  returns  of  the  gross  receipts  on  upward 
of  two  thousand  miles  of  all  the  railways  open  in  the  German 
States  in  the  years  1845  and  1846,  later  than  which  there  are  no 
published  returns.  The  results  of  these  reports  are  as  follows: 

Total  length  of  railways  to  which  the 
returns  refer Miles 

Gross  receipts <£l,433,061 

Receipts  per  mile  of  railway 612 

Receipts  per  cent,  of  capital,  taking 
cost  of  construction  at  <£  12,500 
per  mile 4'9  6'0 

It  appears  thei-efore,  that,  although  upon  some  few  of  the  most 
frequented  of  the  railways  the  receipts  bear  a  considerable  pro- 
portion to  the  cost  of  construction,  yet  on  the  average  of  the 
whole  they  did  not,  according  to  the  last  returns,  exceed  6  per 
cent,  on  the  capital  expended.  The  proportion  in  which  they 
have  been  produced  by  passenger  and  goods  traffic  has  been,  on 
an  average,  in  the  ratio  of  61  per  cent,  from  passengers,  and  39 
per  cent,  from  goods. 

I  have  not  been  able  to  obtain  exact  returns  of  working  ex- 
penses, more  recent  than  1844.  In  the  following  table  is  given 
the  details  of  these  expenses,  together  with  their  ratio  to  the 
gross  receipts,  for  eighteen  of  the  principal  lines  for  that  year: 


412 


RAILWAY  ECONOMY. 


[CHAP.  XIX. 


TABULAR  ANALYSIS  of  the  Expenses,  Receipts,  and  Profits  on  the  under-mentioned 
German  Railways  during  the  Year  1844. 

Expenses. 

j 

Locomotive 

Police  and 

Direction 

Railway. 

and 
carrying 

Mainte- 
nance of 

and 
General 

Total. 

Receipt!. 

Profits. 

Expenses. 

Way. 

Expenses. 

_ 

Nuremberg—  Fiirth  

£.. 
1,252 

448 

344 

2,044 

4,844 

2,800 

Vienna—  Glognitz  

31,350 

7,0-20 

2,820 

41,190 

93536 

52,340 

Austrian  Northern  .... 

50,800 

23,504 

10,108 

84,472 

17i;334 

80,912 

Upper  Silesian  
Breslau—  Fribourg  

7;G16 
8,020 

4^76 
4,472 

1,496 
1,120 

13,688 
13,612 

24,504 
23,768 

10.810 
10,156 

Berlin  —  Francfort  

10,672 

4,452 

2,400 

17,124 

43,576 

26,452 

Berlin  —  Stettin  

29,096 

62,300 

33,204 

Berlin—  Potsdam  

8,624 

3,952 

1,176 

13,752 

28,260 

14,508 

Berlin—  Anhalt  

33,152 

14,170 

4,080 

51,408 

102,584 

51,176 

Magdeburg—  Leipsic.  .  . 

29,900 

10,560 

3,764 

44,244 

102.392 

58,148 

Mngdeburg-Halbersttult 

13,240 

20,048 

0,808 

Dusseldorf—  Elberfeld  .  I      6,548 

3,668 

'896 

11,112 

23,404 

12,352 

Bonn—  Cologne  j      4.236 

2,596 

8% 

7,728 

15,644 

7,916 

Cologne—  Herbestal  

23,530 

8,808 

2,844 

35,188 

81,560 

46,372 

Leipsic—  Dresden  
Saxon  —  Bavarian  

30,412 
0,924 

9,712 

4,592 

2,572 
1,724 

42,696 
13,240 

86,040 
26,016 

43,344 
12,776 

Hamburg—  Bergedorf  .  . 

2,600 

3,700 

912 

7,212 

6,376 

836 

Francfort—  Wiesbaden. 

19,032 

37,440 

18,408 

Total  

•• 

400,078 

953,636  :  493,558 

In  the  following  table  I  have  shown  the  receipts,  expenses,  and 
profits  on  eighteen  of  the  principal  German  railways  as  compared 
with  the  length  of  railway  worked,  and  have  calculated  the  pro- 
portion per  cent,  borne  by  the  expenses  to  the  receipts,  and  by 
the  receipts  and  profits  respectively  to  the  capital. 


TABULAR  ANALYSIS  showing  the  Receipts,  Expenses,  and  Profits  compared  with 
the  Length  of  Railway  worked  and  the  Cost  of  Construction  on  the  under-men- 
tioned German  Railways  during  the  Year  1844. 

Re 

e.pts. 

El 

senses. 

Profits 

Cap.tal. 

Receipts. 

Receipts. 

Capital. 

jC. 

£. 

£. 

Nuremberg—  Forth  .... 

1300 

24-75 

585 

45-0 

715 

55-0 

13-68 

Vienna  —  Glognitz  
A  us  tri  an  Northern  

2000 
863 

9-15 

8-73 

942 
423 

47-0 
49-8 

1058 
435 

53-0 
50-2 

4-86 
4-40 

Upper  Silesian  

487 

12-35 

270 

55-0 

217 

45-0 

5-50 

Breslau  —  Fribourg  

560 

7-82 

327 

58-5 

233 

41-5 

3-27 

Berlin-Francfort  

862 

10-84 

340 

39-5 

522 

61-5 

6-57 

Berlin—  Stettin  

744 

10-35 

348 

46-8 

396 

53-2 

5-50 

Berlin—  Potsdam  

1728 

13-80 

843 

49-0 

8P5 

51  0 

7-07 

Berlin  —  Anhalt 

1085 

14-46 

543 

50-0 

542 

50-0 

7-22 

Magdeburg—  Leipsic  

1395 

15-50 

603 

43-3 

792 

56-7 

8-80 

Magdeburg—  Halherstadt 

548 

8-70 

368 

67-0 

180 

33-0 

2-85 

Dusseldorf—  Elberfeld.  .  . 

1353 

5-84 

640 

47-4 

713 

52-6 

3-07 

Bonn  —  Cologne  

980 

10-90 

482 

49-4 

49d 

50-6 

5-30 

Cologne-Herbestal  

6-58 

665 

43-7 

863 

56-3 

3-72 

Leipsic  —  Dresden  

1210 

9-53 

600 

49-7 

610 

50-3 

4-82 

Saxon  —  Bavarian  

683 

7-32 

349 

51-2 

334 

48-8 

358 

Hamburg—  Bergedorf  .  .  . 

660 

4-91 

720 

1090 

60* 

0-44 

Francfort—  Wiesbaden.  . 

1385 

11-95 

705 

51-0 

680 

49-0 

5-87 

Averages.  .. 

1024 

97 

495         48'3 

529  1     51-7 

5-0 

»  A  loss  of  TY,f  per  cent,  was  sustained  on  this  railway- 


CHAP.  XEX.] 


GERMAN  RAILWAYS. 


413 


In  order  to  show  the  general  movement  of  the  traffic  on  the 
German  railways  in  the  same  manner  as  has  been  already  done 
on  railways  elsewhere,  I  have  collected  in  the  following  table 
the  data  showing  the  movement  of  the  trains,  their  stoppages, 
and  average  speed  : 


TABULAR  ANALYSIS  of  the  Movement  of  the  Traffic  on  the  principal  Ger- 
man Railways,  showing  the  average  Speed,  Stoppages,  &c.,  of  each 
Class  of  Trains.  —  N.B.  An  average  Loss  of  Five  Minutes  is  allowed 
for  each  Stoppage,  except  in  particular  Cases  where  a  greater  Delay 
is  fixed  by  the  Programme.     This  is  intended  to  include  the  Time  lost 
in  coming  to  Rest,  and  getting  up  Speed. 

Railway. 

Distance 
traveled. 

Miltt. 
170-0 
99-5 
35-0 
175-0 
111-3 
227-5 
82-75 
90-0 
253-0 
72-5 
71-3 
640 
1240 
86-8 
276-3 
45-2 
37-4 
162-5 

2234-5 

Time. 

No.  of 
Stop- 
pages. 

25 
18 
7 
19 
26 
21 
6 
8 
18 
7 
6 
4 
16 
13 
31 
13 
8 
14 

273 

sAP:eerdaf: 

eluding 
Stoppages. 

22-5  ' 
17-00 
17-50 
19-40 
14-20 
18-70 
19-90 
22-00 
22-00 
20-70 
23-70 
19-20 
18-40 
17-40 
17-30 
11-30 
15-00 
25-00 

20-00 

Average 
Speed  ex- 
cluding 
Stoppages. 

h.     m. 

7  37 
5  55 
2    0 
9    0 
7  51 
12  15 
4  10 
4    5 
11  30 
3  30 
3    0 
3  30 
6  45 
5    0 
16    0 
4    0 
2    5 
6  30 

Milk. 

27-75 
24-75 
23-50 
23-40 
21-50 
21-60 
22-20 
26-00 
25-30 
24-50 
28-50 
20-20 
22-80 
24-50 
20-50 
17-75 
22-00 
30-50 

Munich  —  Gunsenhausen  

Augsburg—  KmU'buren  
Berlin  —  Hamburg  
Nuremberg—  Hof  
Berlin—  Breslau  

Berlin—  Magdeburg  
Berlin—  Eisenach  
Magdeburg—  Leipsic  
Leipsic  —  Dresden 

Breslau  —  Myslowitz  

Cologne—  Hamm  
Vienna—  Prague  
Vienna—  Glognitz  
Munich  —  Augsburg  
Berlin—  Leipsic  

Totals  and  averages  

114  43 

24-20 

CHAPTER  XX. 

RAILWAYS    IN    RUSSIA,    ITALY,    AND    SPAIN. 

OF  the  railways  in  operation,  in  progress,  and  contemplated 
in  other  countries,  a  brief  notice  will  suffice. 

Russia,  carried  along  by  the  tide  of  public  opinion  in  Europe, 
found  herself  compelled,  by  a  due  regard  to  the  interests  of  her 
people,  to  consecrate  a  part  of  her  exertions  and  her  capital  to 
the  construction  of  the  new  lines  of  communication.  An  attempt 
was  first  made  to  attract  private  capitalists  to  these  projects,  and 
special  advantages  were  offered  to  companies  who  might  be  dis- 
posed to  undertake  the  construction  of  the  lines  of  railway  con- 
templated in  Russia.  The  emperor,  besides  guaranteeing  to 
the  shareholders  a  minimum  profit  of  4  per  cent.,  proposed  to 
give  them  gratuitously  all  the  lands  of  the  state  through  which 
the  railways  should  pass,  and  to  place  at  their  disposal,  also 
gratuitously,  the  timber  and  raw  materials  necessciry  for  the 
way  and  works  which  might  be  found  upon  the  spot.  It  was 
further  proposed  to  permit  the  importation  of  rails  and  the 
rolling  stock  free  of  duty.  Russian  proprietors  also  spontaneous- 
ly came  forward,  and  not  only  agreed  to  grant  such  portion  of 
their  land  as  the  railways  might  pass  through  gratuitously,  but 
further  to  dispossess  themselves  temporarily  of  their  serfs,  and 
surrender  them  to  the  use  of  the  companies  on  the  sole  condition 
that  they  should  be  properly  supported  while  employed. 

By  a  special  ukase,  dated  February  ]3,  1842,  it  was  decreed, 
that  the  railway  which  was  to  unite  the  two  capitals  of  St. 
Petersburg  and  Moscow  should  be  constructed  exclusively  at 
the  expense  of  the  State,  in  order  to  retain  in  the  hands  of  the 
government,  and  in  the  general  interest  of  the  people,  a  line  of 
communication  so  important  to  the  industry  and  the  internal 
commerceof  the  empire.  The  local  proprietors  equally  agreed 
to  surrender  to  government  gratuitously  the  lands  necessary  for 
the  works  of  this  line. 

The  system  of  railways  contemplated  in  Russia  is  composed 
of  five  principal  trunk  lines,  one  of  which,  connecting  Warsaw 
with  Cracow,  is  completed  and  in  operation,  and  has  been  already 


CHAP.  XX.]  RAILWAYS  IN  RUSSIA,  ETC.  415 

noticed  in  the  last  chapter,  in  connection  with  the  German  rail- 
ways:  the  length  of  this  line  is  168  miles.  The  second  will 
connect  Warsaw  with  St.  Petersburg:  the  extent  of  this  would 
be,  when  executed,  683  miles.  The  third  will  connect  St. 
Petersburg  with  Moscow;  this  line  is  in  active  progress:  its 
length  will  be  about  400  miles. 

Besides  these,  authorization  was  given  to  a  company  by  a 
ukase  dated  July,  1843,  to  construct  a  railway  for  the  transport 
of  goods  between  the  Wolga  and  the  Don,  the  length  of  which 
would  be  105  miles. 

In  the  actual  execution  of  this  magnificent  system  of  railway 
communication,  no  considerable  progress  has  been  yet  made, 
with  the  exception  of  the  line  already  mentioned  between  War- 
saw and  Cracow. 

A  short  line  of  railway  connecting  St.  Petersburg  with  Tsar- 
Uoe-soela,  having  an  analogy  to  the  Greenwich  and  Richmond 
lines,  which  diverge  from  London,  and  the  Versailles  and  St. 
Germain  lines  from  Paris,  was  completed  and  opened  for  traffic 
in  April.  1838.  The  traffic  on  this  line  has  hitherto  amounted 
to  about  seven  hundred  passengers  per  day. 

The  railway  connecting  the  Don  and  the  Wolga  was  opened 
for  traffic  in  1846;  but  this  line  is  exclusively  for  merchandise, 
and  is  worked  by  horses. 

In  southern  Russia  a  line  of  railway  is  projected  between  Kief 
and  Odessa,  the  surveys  of  which  have  been  made  by  Belgian  en- 
gineers ;  but  no  progress  in  its  construction  has  yet  been  effected. 

A  railway  has  been  projected  also  between  St.  Petersburg  and 
Cronstadt,  and  another  between  St.  Petersburg  and  Baltishport, 
in  Esthonia,  to  be  constructed  and  worked  by  a  company  with 
a  guarantee  of  four  per  cent,  by  the  government. 

In  Italy  a  few  short  lines  of  railway  only  have  been  executed, 
connecting  the  chief  states  with  neighboring  places.  They  are 
as  follows : 

Miles. 

Naples  to  Portici,  opened  Oct.  1839 5 

Portici  to  Castelmare,  with  branch  to  Nocera 21 1 

Naples  to  Capua. . . ' 23£ 

Milan  to  Treviglio 18 

Milan  to  Monza 12 

Venice  to  Vicenza 40 

Leghorn  to  Pisa 12£ 

Florence  to  Empoli,  Ponte  Dcra,  Pisa,  and  Sienna  .... 

Pisa  to  Lucca  and  San  Salvador 

Florence  to  Prato 10j 


416  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XXI. 

In  the  kingdom  of  Sardinia,  railways  exist  as  yet  only  in 
prospect.  It  is  intended  to  carry  two  lines  from  Turin,  one 
directed  on  Genoa  by  Alexandria,  and  the  other  on  Milan  by 
Vercelli  and  Novara.  The  political  distractions,  however,  of 
the  last  two  years  have  suspended  these  projects. 

In  Spain  only  one  railway  of  eighteen  miles  in  length,  con- 
necting Barcelona  with  Mataro,  has  been  constructed.  Others 
have  been  projected  and  even  conceded  to  companies,  the  prin- 
cipal of  which  is  that  between  Madrid  and  Valencia.  The 
political  distractions  of  the  country,  however,  have  suspended 
all  such  projects. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

COMPARISON    OF    RAILWAY    TRANSPORT    IN    DIFFERENT 
COUNTRIES. 

HAVING  investigated  in  the  preceding  chapters  the  conditions 
of  railway  communication  in  the  different  countries  of  the  globe 
where  this  species  of  locomotion  has  been  adopted,  we  shall 
now  bring  into  juxtaposition  the  results  of  our  calculations,  and 
show  the  comparative  progress  which  different  people  have 
made  in  this  important  art,  and  distinguish  what  has  been 
actually  done  from  what  is  in  progress  and  likely  to  be  ac- 
complished. I  shall  not  notice  here  the  projects  which  exist 
only  in  contemplation,  many  of  which  will  probably  never  be 
executed. 

In  making  such  a  comparison  it  is  especially  necessary  to  con- 
sider not  merely  the  length  of  railway  reported  to  be  in  opera- 
tion or  in  progress,  but  the  capital  which  has  been  invested  in  its 
construction;  for  two  lines  of  communication  receiving  the  com- 
mon denomination  of  railways  may  differ  from  each  other  ex- 
tremely in  their  utility  and  value.  Such  a  line  of  communica- 
tion as  that  which  connects,  or  lately  connected,  Portsmouth 
(Virginia)  with  Weldon  (North  Carolina),  and  that  which  con- 


CUAP.  XXL]     RAILWAY  TRANSPORT  GENERALLY.  417 

nects  London  and  Birmingham,  both  receive  the  common  name 
of  railway,  nearly  in  the  same  manner  as  a  log  cabin  of  a  Mis- 
souri settler  and  the  palace  of  Blenheim  receive  the  common 
denomination  of  "dwelling-house."  The  most  exact  measure  of 
the  relative  utility  or  efficiency  of  two  lines  of  railway  is  their 
cost.  It  is  not,  however,  to  be  forgotten  that,  even  in  adopting 
this  test,  regard  must  be  had  to  the  relative  cost  of  land,  mate- 
rial, and  manual  labor. 

The  extent  of  railway  communication,  and  the  expense  of  its 
construction,  may  be  compared  either  with  the  population  to 
whose  commerce  it  is  appropriated,  or  to  the  territorial  extent 
of  the  country  through  which  it  is  carried. 

In  the  following  table  I  have  given,  according  to  the  most 
recently  published  reports,  the  population,  the  extent  of  terri- 
tory, the  extent  of  railway  open  and  in  progress,  and  the  capital 
invested  in  the  one,  and  to  be  invested  in  the  other  in  those 
countries  where  railways  have  been  established. 


TABLE  showing  the  Population,  Extent  of  Territory,  and  Extent  of  Rail- 
way in  Operation  and  in  Progress,  in  the  several  Countries  of  the 
World  where  Railways  have  been  constructed. 

Countne, 

Population. 

Extent  of 
Territory. 

K£ 

So^re 
Mile. 

Extent 

Railway 
open. 

Railway 

Progress. 

Capital  in- 
vested in 
Railways 
ope... 

Capital  to  be 

Railways  'in 
Progress. 

United  Kingdom 
Germanic  States, 
including  Den 
mark  and  Hol- 
land   
United  States... 
France  
Bel-iium  
Russia  

27,019,558 

45,753,640 
17,104,615 
35,400,486 
4,335,319 
54,09-2,300 
47,696,338 

231,312,256 

Sq.  Mila. 

121,050 

268,548 
1,642,536 
204,708 
11,256 
1,892,478 
312,774 

223-0 

170-0 
10-4 
173-0 
382-0 
28-6 
152-0 

Milel. 

5,000 

4,542 
6,565 
1,722 
457 
200 
170 

Miles. 
4,500 

800 

.200 
1,189 
200* 
470* 
470* 

200,000,000 

56,775,000 
52,000,000 
45,812,000 
8,000,000 
3,000,000 
3,000.000 

jC. 
100,000.000 

10,000,000 
2,000,000 
15,350,000 
3,600,000 
7,500,000 
8,300,000 

Totals  &  averages 

4,453,350 

52-0 

18,656 

7,829     368,567,000146,750,000 

*  Statistiches  Jahrlmch  fur  1847,  von  Karl  August  Miiller:  Leipsic,  1848. 

The  data  supplied  by  this  table  will  enable  us  to  compare  the 
length  of  railways  and  the  railway  capital  of  each  country,  with 
its  population  and  its  territory.  This  is  done  in  the  following 


418 


RAILWAY  ECONOMY. 


[CHAP.  XXI. 


COMPARISON  of  the  Extent  of  Railways  in  Operation,  and  the  Amount  of 
Railway  Capital,  with  the  Population  and  Territorial  Extent  of  the 
Countries  which  possess  them. 

Countries 

Length  of  Railway  per 
Million  of  Population. 

Length  of  Railway  per 
1000  Square  Miles  of 
Territory. 

!l! 

ill- 

if 

«3 

i! 
Si 

*  £ 

n 

III 

SI 

l-a 

fe. 

i 
f 

Share  of  each  Country 
in  every  100  Miles  of 
Railway  in  Progress. 

1 

|8S 

•o*l£ 

II 

United  Kingdom  
Germanic  States,  includ- 
ing Denmark  and  Hol- 
land 

Miles. 

185-00 

99-50 
384-00 
48-30 
105-20 
3-70 
3-57 

80-5 

41-3 

16-9 
4-0 
8-3 
40-5 
0-10 
0-54 

4-18 

j£. 

7-400 

1-240 
3-050 
1-310 
1-850 
0055 
0-063 

1-GOO 

£. 
1,652-00 

212-00 
31-70 
227-00 
705-00 
1-59 
9-60 

83-00 

26-80 

24-34 
35-17 
9-12 
2-45 
1-07 
0-91 

100-0 

54-10 

15-27 
14-10 
12-75 
2-16 
0-81 
0-81 

100-00 

57-50 

10-20 
2-55 
15-20 
2-55 

c-oo 

6-00 
100-00 

68-16 

6-82 
1-37 
10-40 
2-45 
5-13 
5-67 

100-00 

United  States      
France  
Belgium  
Russia  
Italy  

Totals  and  averages.  . 

Some  of  the  results  of  this  table  are  very  remarkable. 
In  the  proportion  which  the  length  of  railway  bears  to  the 
population,  the  several  countries  stand  in  the  following  order : 

1.  United  States.  5.  France. 

2.  United  Kingdom.  6.  Russia. 

3.  Belgium.  7.  Italy. 

4.  Germanic  States. 

In  the  proportion  which  the  length  of  railway  bears  to  the 
extent  of  territory,  these  countries  stand  in  the  following  order : 

1.  United  Kingdom.  5.  United  States. 

2.  Belgium.  6.  Italy. 

3.  Germanic  States.  7.  Russia. 

4.  France. 

In  the  proportion  of  the  railway  capital  to  the  population,  the 
following  is  the  order  in  which  they  stand  : 

1.  United  Kingdom.  5.  Germanic  States. 

2.  United  States.  6.  Italy. 

3.  Belgium.  7.  Russia. 

4.  France. 

In  the  proportion  which  the  railway  capital  bears  to  the  ex- 
tent of  territory,  the  following  is  the  order  : 

1.  United  Kingdom.  5.  United  States. 

2.  Belgium.  6.  Italy. 

3.  France.  7.  Russia. 

4.  Germanic  States. 


CHAP.  XXL]    RAILWAY  TRANSPORT  GENERALLY.  419 

The  following  is  the  order  in  which  they  stand  with  reference 
to  the  actual  length  of  railway  open  : 

1.  United  States.  5.  Belgium. 

2.  United  Kingdom.  6.  Russia. 

3.  Germanic  States.  7.  Italy. 

4.  France.  , 

And  the  following  is  their  order  in  relation  to  the  capital  ex- 
pended in  railways  : 

1.  United  Kingdom.  5.  Belgium. 

2.  Germanic  States.  6.  Russia. 

3.  United  States.  7-  Italy. 

4.  France. 

While  the  total  length  of  railway  in  operation  in  the  United 
States  exceeds  the  length  opon  in  the  United  Kingdom  in  the 
proportion  of  about  4  to  3,  the  capital  invested  in  railway  com- 
munication in  England  exceeds  that  invested  in  the  United  States 
in  the  ratio  of  about  4  to  1. 

It  will  also  be  observed  that,  of  the  aggregate  amount  of  cap- 
ital invested  in  railways  in  all  the  countries  of  the  globe,  England 
possesses  more  than  the  half,  or  54  per  cent. ;  while  the  length 
of  railways  constructed  with  this  capital  is  less  than  27  per  cent., 
or  little  more  than  one  quarter  of  the  aggregate  length. 

This  will  exhibit,  in  a  striking  manner,  the  superior  efficiency 
of  the  mode  of  construction  in  England. 

Of  all  the  railways  in  progress  in  every  part  of  the  world, 
more  than  the  half,  or  57 £  per  cent.,  are  in  England ;  and  of 
the  entire  amount  of  capital  to  be  invested  in  these,  about  68  per 
cent,  is  to  be  invested  in  England. 

It  appears  from  the  results  of  the  preceding  tables,  that  the 
entire  amount  of  capital  actually  invested  in  railway  communi- 
cation in  all  the  countries  of  the  world  is  three  hundred  and 
sixty-eight  millions  and  a  half;  and  that  with  this,  upward  of 
eighteen  thousand  six  hundred  miles  of  railway  have  been  con- 
structed, and  that  the  capital  to  be  invested  in  seven  thousand 
eight  hundred  miles  of  railway  in  progress  will  amount  to  nearly 
one  hundred  and  forty-seven  millions. 

It  would  have  been  desirable  to  have  exhibited  a  comparative 
view  of  the  average  movement  of  the  traffic  upon  the  railways 
in  operation  in  different  countries  at  a  corresponding  epoch. 
Unfortunately  we  have  no  documents  to  enable  us  to  do  this 
with  all  the  precision  which  might  be  wished.  I  have,  however, 
collected  in  the  following  table  as  many  data  as  are  supplied  by 
authentic  documents  for  nearly  corresponding  epochs.  The 


RAILWAY   ECONOMY. 


[CHAP.  XXI. 


railways  ou  which  the  traffic  reported  has  been  carried  do  not 
in  general  include  all  the  lines  open  in  the  respective  countries; 
nevertheless,  they  will  afford  some  approximation  to  a  compari- 
son of  the  extent  of  intercommunication  by  railway.  In  some 
cases,  also,  I  have  been  obliged  to  obtain  the  numerical  results 
by  estimation.  These  I  have  indicated  in  the  table  : 


COMPARATIVE  VIEW  of  the  Movement  of  the  Traffic  on  a  Portion  of  the 
Railways  in  operation  in  the  United  Kingdom,  United  States,  Belgium, 
France,  and  Germany. 

United 

United 
States. 

Belgium. 

Franc*  1°=' 

1847. 
3036 

1847. 

1  ICO 

1847. 
"353'' 

1848. 
To90 

184G. 
2304 

Length  of  railway  

Average   cost  of   construction    and 
stock  per  mile  

Per  mile  of  railway  per  day  : 

40,000 

£. 

3-Ot 
4-Gt 
40-Of 
4-2| 

i.     d. 

7    0 
2    0 

15-75 

9200* 

£. 
4-05 
1-89 
2-16 
46-8 
8-6 

i.     d. 

7    5 
2    3 

18,000 

£. 
4-6 
29 

63-0 

3-44 

5    0 
1    G 

26,800 

£. 
5-30 
3-33 

1-97 
63-0 

2-G8 

I.      d. 

7     6 
2    1-75 

11,000 

£. 

2-16 
1-04 
1-12 
48-3 
3-72 

».     d. 

i  '0-5 

Expenses  

Expenses  per  cent,  of  receipts  

Receipts  per  mile  of  trains  
Receipts  per  passenger  booked  

Distance  traveled  per  passenger-... 

Receipts  per  passenger  per  mile  
Number  of  passengers  per  train  
Per  cent  of  passengers  booked: 

18-2 

22-6 

24-9 

19-6 

,1-54 

50 

13-8 
39-5 

46-7 

i.     il. 
3    2-2 

miles. 

22-5 

d. 
1-67 

24-5 
32-0 

1-47 
54 

100 

».     d. 

5    8-5 

"si'" 

<t. 
1-8 
54-5 

15-Ot 

0-8 
753 

11 
24-0 
C5 

1.      rl. 

5    2 

mllrt. 

43-8 

a. 
1-34 
33-2 

18-10 
24-90 

1-03 
61-4 

7-0 
24-6 

68-4 

21-2 
27-0 

0-93 

3-6 
22-4 
74-0 

/O   1 

miltt. 

46-4 

d. 
2-6 

20-0 
24-2 

2rf  rifts* 

Receipts  per  ton  of  goods  booked  •  •  • 

Kec  ip     pe           pe        ^  , 

Average  speed  of  passenger-trains  in 
miles  per  hour: 
Stoppages  included  

Stoppages 

*  The  average  cost  of  the  American  railways  taken  collectively  per  mile  is  only 
£8129.  Those  to  which  the  present  report  refers  include  among  them  the  most  ex- 
pensive in  the  States. 

t  The  estimated  limit,  see  page  263.  t  By  estimation. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

THE    RELATION    OF    RAILWAYS    TO    THE    STATE. 

RAILWAYS,  when  first  brought  into  operation,  were  regarded 
as  exceptional  modes  of  conveyance,  suitable  to  particular  locali- 
ties and  particular  conditions  of  commerce  and  intercourse.  As 
their  powers  were  gradually  developed,  it  became  evident  that 
they  were  destined  to  play  a  more  important  part  in  the  business 
of  transport,  and  that  they  must  ultimately  become  the  general, 
if  not  the  only  means  by  which  the  internal  movement  and 
commerce  of  peoples,  and  even  the  intercommunication  of  people 
and  people,  would  be  conducted.  Under  this  point  of  view,  the 
question  of  their  relation  with  the  State  became  one  of  capital 
importance. 

Hitherto  the  public  highways  in  all  countries  have  been  re- 
garded as  within  the  special  domain  of  government.  By  gov- 
ernment and  by  the  legislature  they  were  controlled  and  regu- 
lated ;  and  it  was  natural,  therefore,  to  conclude  that  the  same 
system  of  regulation  and  control  must  be  extended  to  the  new 
ways  of  communication,  by  which  they  seem  destined  to  be 
superseded. 

Between  the  common  high. roads,  however,  and  the  railways, 
an  important  difference  was  not  slow  to  unfold  itself.  The 
superintendence  and  control  of  the  State  over  the  highways  had 
been  limited  to  their  maintenance  and  superintendence,  and  to 
the  regulation  of  their  police.  The  carrying  business  conducted 
upon  them  was  always  in  the  hands  of  the  public,  and  was  regu- 
lated and  controlled  by  the  wholesome  influence  of  competition. 

The  operation  of  the  same  principle  of  competition  was  con- 
templated in  the  infancy  of  railways,  as  is  apparent  from  the 
provisions  in  the  legislative  enactments  by  which  the  companies 
have  been  incorporated.  It  was  expected  that  the  public  should 
be  admitted  to  exercise  the  business  of  carriers  upon  them,  sub- 
ject to  certain  specified  regulations  and  by-laws. 

It  soon  became  apparent,  however,  that  this  new  means  of 
transport  was  attended  with  qualities  which  must  exclude  every 
indiscriminate  exercise  of  the  carrying  business.  A  railway, 
like  a  vast  machine,  the  wheels  of  which  are  all  connected  with 


422  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XXII. 

each  other,  and  whose  movement  requires  a  certain  harmony, 
can  not  be  worked  by  a  number  of  independent  agents.  Such 
a  system  would  speedily  be  attended  with  self-destruction.  The 
organization  of  a  railway  requires  unity  of  direction  and  harmony 
of  movement,  which  can  only  be  attained  by  the  combination  of 
the  entire  carrying  business  with  the  general  administration  of 
the  road.  Hence  it  followed,  as  a  necessary  consequence,  as 
has  been  already  explained,  that  the  companies  originally  estab- 
lished for  the  construction  of  a  road  only,  became,  in  spite  of 
themselves,  the  exclusive  carriers  upon  it;  and  hence  arose 
inevitably  as  many  local  monopolies  of  transport  as  there  were 
separate  and  independent  companies. 

This  evil  was  speedily  aggravated  by  amalgamation.  The 
very  same  principles  and  conditions  which  rendered  it  indis- 
pensable that  each  company  should  have  the  sole  direction  and 
management  of  the  entire  movement  of  transport  upon  its  own 
line,  rendered  it  scarcely  less  expedient  that  systems  of  lines 
running  into  each  other  should  either  voluntarily  establish  a 
code  of  regulations  to  secure  their  mutual  harmony,  or  that 
they  should  coalesce  so  as  to  form  fewer  companies  of  greater 
magnitude.  Both  of  these  expedients  have  been  resorted  to. 
Lesser,  placed  near  greater  companies,  have  coalesced  with 
them.  A  great  number  of  small  monopolies  have,  by  the 
operation  of  the  affinities  of  commercial  interest,  been  drawn 
together,  and  have  become  a  small  number  of  great  monopolies; 
and  so  indispensable  has  a  certain  unity  of  management  and  har- 
mony of  movement  proved  to  be  to  the  efficiency  of  the  entire 
system,  that,  where  amalgamation  has  not  been  effected,  the 
device  of  the  Clearing-house  has  been  invented  to  surmount,  as 
far  as  is  practicable,  those  difficulties  which  might  arise  from 
the  absence  of  unity  of  direction  and  management  of  intercom- 
municating lines. 

Such  were  the  circumstances  out  of  which  sprung  those 
colossal  monopolies  among  which  the  territory  of  the  United 
Kingdom  is  parceled  out,  and  by  which  the  entire  internal  com- 
merce, and  correspondence,  and  personal  intercourse  of  its 
people  are  conducted. 

A  great  variety  of  relations  have  arisen  out  of  a  like  state  of 
things  in  other  countries,  according  to  the  local  circumstances 
attending  the  form  of  government,  and  the  social  and  commer- 
cial condition  of  the  people. 

In  some  the  State  has  taken  upon  itself  the  entire  charge  of 
the  construction  and  working  of  the  railways.  This  ia  the  case. 


CiiAp.  XXII.]        RAILWAYS  AND  THE  STATE.  423 

for  example,  in  Belgium  and  Hanover,  in  some  of  the  Northern 
Duchies,  in  the  Grand  Duchy  of  Baden,  in  Wiirtemburg,  Ba- 
varia, and  Austria.  If.  is  true  that  a  few  isolated  lines  in  these 
several  states  had  been  conceded  to  companies  before  the  great 
question  of  the  relation  between  the  State  and  the  railways  had 
been  raised  ;  but  these  cases,  besides  being  exceptional,  have 
gradually  been  diminished  in  number  by  the  governments  re- 
spectively redeeming  the  property  in  the  roads. 

In  other  countries,  a  mixed  system  has  been  pursued.  Some 
railways  have  been  constructed  and  furnished  by  the  State,  but 
farmed  by  companies  on  terminable  and  frequently  short  leases, 
the  State  maintaining  a  certain  control  regulated  by  the  clauses 
of  the  leases.  In  some  cases,  the  railways  have  been  construct- 
ed and  stocked  by  the  companies  themselves,  who  hold  the 
property  under  a  lease  of  more  or  less  extended  duration;  but 
still  the  State  is  represented  in  the  administration  of  the  railway 
by  the  presence  of  an  agent,  who  is  invested  with  almost  unlim- 
ited control  over  the  working  of  the  lines.  In  France,  this  agent 
was  established  under  the  name  of  a  Royal  Commissioner,  and 
one  such  functionary  was  nominated  to,  form  part  of  the  admin- 
istration of  each  railway  company.  Besides  this,  the  govern- 
ment appoints  the  police  of  the  road,  all  these  functionaries, 
however,  of  every  grade,  being  paid  by  the  company.  On  the 
expiration  of  the  leases,  the  State  is  usually  bound  to  reimburse 
to  the  company  the  estimated  value  of  the  movable  stock  at- 
tached to  the  establishment;  and  the  company,  on  the  other 
hand,  is  bound  to  sustain  this  movable  stock  in  a  satisfactory 
and  efficient  state  pending  the  lease. 

In  cases  where  the  State  has  adopted  the  policy  of  leaving 
the  construction  and  management  of  the  railways  to  private 
companies,  it  has  nevertheless  intervened,  by  means  of  subven- 
tion or  other  encouragement,  to  stimulate  private  enterprise  in 
those  cases  in  which  the  lines  run  through  localities  .where  the 
commerce  is  deemed  insufficient  to  produce  the  average  profit 
on  the  capital  invested.  In  different  countries  this  object  is 
accomplished  by  different  expedients. 

In  some,  a  subvention  in  money  is  directly  given  ;  in  others, 
the  State  takes  a  certain  proportion  of  the  shares,  supplying 
the  corresponding  amount  of  capital  on  favorable  terms;  in 
others,  the  State  guarantees  a  minimum  amount  of  interest  on 
the  capital  to  be  invested  ;  in  others,  the  companies  are  favored 
by  the  free  importation  of  stock  and  materials,  by  the  gratuitous 
use  of  the  land,  and  by  exemption  from  taxation. 


424  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XXII. 

The  authority  of  the  State  is,  in  almost  all  cases,  asserted, 
and  in  many  periodically  exercised.  Thus  a  power  of  revising 
the  tariff  at  stated  intervals,  such  as  every  three  or  five  years, 
is  often  reserved.  This  is  the  case  in  some  of  the  railway  enter- 
prises in  the  United  States. 

The  case  of  the  English  railway  companies  is,  in  several  re- 
spects, peculiar.  The  spirit  of  the  laws  and  traditions  renders 
the  State  averse  from  interference  in  commercial  enterprises, 
and  somewhat  reserved  even  in  the  exercise  of  that  control  over 
them,  which  would  seem  to  be  indispensable  to  the  general 
interests. 

Powers  of  an  unusually  extensive  and  durable  character  were 
therefore  readily  granted  to  all  railway  companies  in  this  coun- 
try, and  monopoly  after  monopoly  grew  up,  fostered  by  the 
legislature,  and  favored  by  the  public.  Monopoly,  however,  was 
not  slow  to  develop  some  of  its  customary  evils,  and  complaints 
and  remonstrances  followed.  Abuses  were  signalized,  and  a 
reaction  in  public  opinion  was  manifested.  Railway  directors, 
who  had  been  previously  the  objects  of  unbounded  laudation, 
now  became  the  subjects  of  distrust  and  censure,  and  a  general 
demand  of  some  efficient  system  of  control  was  put  forth. 

This  demand  was  opposed  by  railway  directors  and  parties 
under  their  influence,  who  went  so  far  as  to  deny  the  right  of 
parliament  to  interfere  with  their  concerns,  assimilating  their 
establishments  to  those  of  banks,  insurance  offices,  dock  compa- 
nies, and  other  industrial  associations.  These  parties  indig- 
nantly rejected  all  control,  and  even  complained  of  the  system 
of  publishing  periodical  reports,  partial  and  imperfect  as  it  has 
been,  which  the  law  and  public  opinion  has  exacted  from  them, 
as  a  grievance.  They  declared  that  any  interference  with  the 
affairs  of  railway  companies,  or  any  compulsory  publication  of 
their  proceedings,  or  any  report  of  the  state  of  their  financial 
concerns,  is  a  violation  of  the  rights  of  capital  as  gross  and  un- 
justifiable as  would  be  the  same  measures  if  adopted  in  refer- 
ence to  the  mercantile  transactions  of  Rothschild's,  Baring's,  or 
any  other  private  establishment.  They  admit  that  government 
may  so  far  interfere  as  to  provide  for  the  safety  and  conve- 
nience of  the  public  in  traveling.  But  beyond  this,  they  de- 
nounce all  legislative  or  State  intervention  in  their  affairs.  They 
complain  that  the  temper  evinced  by  parliament  and  the  press 
is  such  as  ought  to  be  directed  only  against  the  greatest  enemies 
of  social  progress,  instead  of  the  promoters,  as  they  justly  enough 
claim  to  be.  of  one  of  the  most  signal  instruments  for  the  ad- 


CHAP.  XXII.]       RAILWAYS  AND  THE  STATE.  425 

vancement  of  civilization  that  modern  times  have  witnessed. 
Such  a  temper,  they  contend,  must  produce  a  corresponding 
feeling  on  the  part  of  railway  directors;  and  it  is  declared  that, 
if  such  a  system  of  annoyance  and  improper  interference  be 
continued,  it  must  result  either  in  raising  a  spirit  of  opposition 
on  the  part  of  railway  interests,  which,  considering  the  magni- 
tude of  the  property  at  stake,  can  not  be  lightly  regarded,  or 
inducing  an  apathy  and  indifference  in  the  administration  of  rail- 
ways ;  in  either  case  being  the  cause  of  great  injury  and  incon- 
venience to  the  public. 

To  all  this  it  is  answered,  that  bodies  which  possess  the  almost 
exclusive  control  of  the  intercourse  of  the  country,  including  the 
conveyance  of  persons  and  goods,  the  service  of  the  post-office, 
and  the  movement  of  the  troops,  have  none  of  the  qualities,  and 
ought  to  have  none  of  the  privileges,  attaching  to  private  com- 
mercial establishments;  that,  therefore,  it  would  be  a  great 
error  to  regard  the  British  railways  as  speculations  important 
to  none  but  the  shareholders;  that  they,  on  the  contrary,  involve 
interests  public,  political,  and  social,  of  the  greatest  magnitude ; 
that  they  have  not  been  created,  as  the  advocates  of  their  com- 
plete independence  pretend,  by  the  unaided  efforts  of  individuals ; 
that  they  owe  their  origin  and  existence  to  the  will  of  the  legis- 
lature, expressed  in  their  various  acts  of  incorporation,  and  that 
to  the  legislature  they  must  be  held,  in  a  peculiar  degree,  re- 
sponsible ;  that  they  have  been  intrusted  with  privileges  and 
powers  almost  without  precedent;  and  that,  in  fine,  it  is  incum- 
bent on  parliament  to  see  that  these  powers  are  properly  exer- 
cised, and  to  amend  the  laws  which  regulate  them  in  such  a 
manner  as  may  from  time  to  time  be  deemed  expedient. 

It  is  further  contended,  that  the  duty  of  legislative  interfer- 
ence is  rendered  more  imperative  by  the  enormous  amount  of 
money  which  railway  companies  have  raised  under  parliament- 
ary authority.  Not  only  has  a  capital  been  raised  amounting  to 
a  quarter  of  the  national  debt,  which  amount  will  be  augmented 
by  at  least  50  per  cent,  within  a  short  period,  but  loans  have 
been  obtained  by  the  companies  to  vast  amounts,  under  the  direct 
sanction,  and  subject  to  the  conditions,  of  special  acts  of  parlia- 
ment. The  debentures  representing  these  loans,  as  well  as  the 
railway  shares,  are  transferable  from  hand  to  hand  with  ag 
much  facility  as  the  unfunded  debt,  with  which  they  enter  into 
direct  competition. 

Of  late  years,  moreover,  the  interests  involved  in  railway 
property  have  assumed  an  importance  which  has  introduced  it 


426  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XXII. 

into  marriage  settlements,  wills,  and  other  family  arrangements, 
almost  as  generally  as  the  public  securities.  It  would  therefore, 
it  is  contended,  be  preposterous  to  maintain  that  property  of 
such  an  amount  and  such  character  should  be  left  to  the  uncon- 
trolled management  of  bodies  so  fleeting  and  so  little  responsible 
as  the  boards  of  railway  directors. 

It  is  further  maintained  by  the  advocates  of  government  con- 
trol, that  shareholders  are  a  fleeting  and  mutable  body,  liberated 
from  many  of  the  responsibilities  and  obligations  which  attach 
to  property  of  a  more  permanent  character.  A  share-market 
has  been  created  as  well  in  the  chief  commercial  towns  as  in  the 
capital,  where  transactions  to  an  enormous  amount  take  place. 
Not  only  are  permanent  investments  made  in  railway  securities 
which  have  become  matters  of  settlement,  bequest,  and  inherit- 
ance, but  large  speculations  are  daily  made,  with  a  view  to  profit, 
by  traffic  in  a  description  of  property  peculiarly  liable  to  sudden 
and  extraordinary  fluctuations,  fluctuations  so  extreme  that  the 
capital  of  a  single  railway  has  been  known  to  fall  in  value  within 
the  brief  period  of  two  months  to  the  amount  of  three  millions 
sterling.  These  violent  and  sudden  variations  in  the  value  of 
the  securities  of  one  railway  produce  sympathetic  effects  in  all 
the  others,  and  always  arise  from  the  want  of  confidence  enter- 
tained by  the  public  in  the  representations  made  by  the  directors 
of  railway  companies  of  their  financial  condition.* 

Since,  however,  the  necessity  of  establishing  an  independent 
body,  invested  with  definite  powers  to  examine  and  check  the 
railway  accounts,  is  admitted  by  all  persons  beyond  the  imme- 
diate circle  of  railway  directors,  and  those  in  their  employment 
and  under  their  influence,  and  even  by  some  among  those  direct- 
01  s  themselves,  it  will  not  be  necessary  to  enter  further  into  this 
discussion.  It  may  be  assumed  that  the  establishment  of  such 
a  controlling  body  is  demanded  by  public  opinion  ;  the  only  points 
to  be  considered  being  the  authority  from  which  its  nomination 
must  emanate,  and  the  nature  and  extent  of  its  powers. 

The  appointment  of  such  a  body  can  only  be  made  by  the 
directors,  the  proprietors  of  railways,  not  being  directors,  or  the 
State. 

That  railway  directors  should  nominate  the  body  which  is  to 
control  themselves,  would  be  an  outrage  on  common  sense, 
which  public  opinion  indignantly  rejects. 

The   appointment  of  an  efficient  and  independent  board  of 

*  Third  Report  of  Select  Committee  of  House  of  Lords,  June,  1849. 


CHAP.  XXII.]        RAILWAYS  AND  THE  STATE.  427 

control  by  railway  proprietors,  exercising  its  powers  over  rail- 
way directors,  would  be  attended  with  many  practical  difficulties. 
The  railway  proprietors  are  a  very  numerous  body,  scattered 
over  the  country,  and  even  over  the  world,  varying  extremely 
in  age,  sex,  and  condition.  It  is  difficult  to  imagine  how  such  a 
body  could  ever  be  brought  into  any  real  co-operation  otherwise 
than  by  the  agency  and  influence,  direct  or  indirect,  of  the 
directors  themselves.  The  body  of  proprietors  have  already 
nominated  the  directors,  and  must  be  presumed  to  have  select- 
ed the  individuals  for  that  office  whom  they  regarded  as  best 
entitled  to  their  confidence.  To  call  on  the  same  proprietors  to 
elect  other  individuals  to  be  placed  in  a  sort  of  antagonism  to  the 
former,  and  invested  with  powers  to  check  and  control  them, 
would  be  to  require  them  to  place  over  those  individuals,  in 
whom  they  have  manifested  the  greatest  confidence,  others,  in 
whom  they  must  necessarily  have  less. 

The  impracticability  of  attaining  such  an  object  is  in  some 
degree  illustrated  by  the  effect  of  the  system  of  audit  hitherto 
pursued.  It  is  well  known  that  on  the  presentation  of  each 
half  year's  report,  auditors  are  appointed  by  the  meeting  of 
shareholders,  to  examine  and  to  chick  the  balance-sheet.  The 
witnesses  produced  before  the  House  of  Lords,  consisting  of 
public  accountants,  eminent  railway  directors,  and  others,  distin- 
guished by  special  knowledge  on  such  subjects,  were  unanimous 
in  declaring  this  system  of  audit  to  be  destitute  of  all  efficiency. 

Mr.  Swift  (says  the  report),  a  witness  whose  confidential  con- 
nection with  the  Northwestern  Railway  Company  gives  great 
weight  to  his  testimony,  declared  such  an  audit  to  be  "  moon- 
shine against  dishonest  directors."  Mr.  King,  who  had  been 
secretary  to  two  companies,  said,  the  audit  was  "  a  complete 
farce,"  to  which  he  could  not  attach  the  slightest  value  of  im- 
portance. Sir  John  Easthope  declared  that  he  could  never 
consent  to  become  a  director  again  unless  an  effective  audit 
were  established,  and  that  if  such  audit  be  not  entirely  inde- 
pendent of  the  directors,  it  would  be  better  to  have  no  audit  at 
all.  Mr.  King  said  that  a  shareholder  ought  not  to  be  an  auditor, 
"inasmuch  as  it  would  place  him  in  an  invidious  position.  He 
would,  in  some  way  or  other,  be  connected  with  the  directors, 
and  would  probably  be  chosen,  or  suggested,  or  recommended, 
by  them  to  the  shareholders." 

A  board  of  railway  control  properly  constituted  would  repre- 
sent, not  the  interest  of  the  shareholders  only,  but  that  of  the 
public;  and  among  the  abuses  which  it  would  become  its  duty 


428  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XXII. 

to  check,  would  be  more  especially  those  which  affect  that 
portion  of  the  public  who  are  not  shareholders.  The  misappli- 
cation of  capital  and  financial  malversations,  which  have  been 
already  sometimes  practiced  by  directors,  having  the  effect  of 
producing  factitious  changes  in  the  marketable  value  of  railway 
securities,  of  which  changes  the  directors  themselves,  who  thus 
brought  them  about,  have  largely  availed  themselves,  are  ex- 
amples of  this.  So  far,  then,  as  such  a  board  of  control  would 
represent  the  interests  of  the  public  in  general,  as  contradis- 
tinguished from  those  of  railway  proprietors  in  particular,  it 
ought  legitimately  to  derive  its  appointments  and  authority  from 
the  State,  which  represents  the  public. 

But,  whatever  may  be  the  origin  of  such  a  controlling  or 
auditing  body,  it  is  agreed  on  all  hands  that  it  must  be  perfectly 
independent  of  the  directors  in  the  exercise  of  its  functions.  If 
such  independence  can  be  shown  to  be  compatible  with  any 
system  of  election  by  shareholders,  no  legitimate  objection  can 
perhaps  be  brought  against  it;  and  it  would,  in  such  case,  be 
exempted  from  those  inconveniences  which  are  supposed  to 
attend  such  a  body  when  deriving  its  nomination  and  authority 
from  the  government. 

Whatever  may  be  the  nature  of  the  functions  and  limits  of 
the  powers  to  be  conferred  upon  the  body  proposed  to  be  cre- 
ated for  the  control  or  audit  of  railway  management,  its  objects 
may  be  briefly  and  clearly  stated. 

They  must  be  to  supply  railway  shareholders,  and  the  public 
in  general  (any  of  whom  may  at  any  moment  become  railway 
shareholders),  with  the  means  of  obtaining  an  assurance  of  the 
honesty  and  of  estimating  the  ability  of  the  railway  manage- 
ment. This  object  will  be  attained  partly  by  the  confidence 
which  the  public  may  entertain  in  the  persons  appointed  to 
compose  such  a  board,  and  partly  by  the  publicity  which  may  be 
given  to  the  accounts  and  proceedings  of  the  railway  managers. 

One  of  the  objects  most  strongly  insisted  upon  in  the  measure 
proposed  in  the  House  of  Lords  for  an  independent  system  of 
railway  audit  in  the  session  of  1849,  was  to  secure  greater  uni- 
formity and  more  detailed  explanation  in  the  system  of  financial 
accounts  issued  by  the  directors  to  the  shareholders.  These 
accounts  naturally  arrange  themselves  under  the  two  heads  of 
capital  and  revenue. 

It  was  proposed  that  the  capital  account  should  be  twofold, 
or,  to  state  it  more  correctly,  a  single  account  consisting  of  triple 
columns. 


CHAP.  XXIL]        RAILWAYS  AND  THE  STATE.  429 

The  first  column  would  consist  of  a  clear  and  detailed  state- 
ment of  the  amounts  of  capital  which  the  company  had  been 
authorized  to  raise,  stating  the  purposes  to  which  these  amounts 
respectively  had  been  directed  by  the  legislature  to  be  applied. 

The  second  column  would  contain  a  statement  of  the  extent 
to  which  the  company  had  exercised  these  powers.  It  would 
state  the  amounts  respectively  which  had  been  raised  under 
each  authorization,  assigning  them  to  their  respective  heads, 
and  showing  the  purposes  for  which  they  were  destined. 

The  difference  between  the  totals  of  these  two  columns 
would  show  the  amount  of  the  unexhausted  power  with  which 
the  company  was  still  invested. 

The  third  column  would  contain  a  clear  and  detailed  state- 
ment of  the  capital  which  had  been  actually  expended,  stating 
the  objects  to  which  it  had  been  appropriated,  and  showing 
clearly  that  these  objects  were  those  for  which  parliament  had 
authorized  the  capital  to  be  raised. 

The  difference  between  the  totals  of  the  second  and  third 
columns  would  show  the  portion  of  the  capital  raised  which  had 
been  still  unexpended. 

One  of  the  abuses  against  which  legislative  interference  had 
been  invoked,  was  the  misappropriation  of  capital  by  railway 
directors.  This  misappropriation  was  twofold.  In  some  cases 
the  directors  would  apply  the  capital  which  the  company  had 
been  authorized  to  raise  for  one  purpose  to  another,  still,  how- 
ever, being  legitimately  capital.  Thus,  capital  authorized  to  be 
raised  for  the  construction  of  a  particular  branch  of  the  trunk 
line,  would  be  applied  to  the  purchase  of  steamboats,  or  to  the 
improvement  or  construction  of  docks. 

Such  proceedings  involved  a  double  violation  of  the  spirit  of 
the  law.  Not  only  was  capital  applied  to  a  purpose  not  author- 
ized by  parliament,  but  works,  the  construction  of  which  was 
sanctioned  by  parliament,  and  ordered  to  be  executed  within 
a  given  limit  of  time,  were  left  either  incomplete  or  not  com- 
menced. 

But  the  most  frequent  and  scandalous  misapplication  of  capi- 
tal, whether  considered  in  itself  or  its  consequences,  had  been 
the  appropriation  of  capital  to  the  purposes  of  revenue,  and 
more  especially  to  the  payment  of  dividends. 

Railway  directors  are  usually  large  holders  of  shares,  fre- 
quently obtained  by  allotment,  and  at  a  much  lower  rate  than 
the  current  market  price. 

Thus  situated,  they  have  a  direct  interest  to  raise  tho  mar- 


430  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XXII. 

ket,  and  to  avail  themselves  of  such  elevation  to  dispose  of 
shares. 

This  object  is  accomplished  by  the  misappropriation  of  capital 
for  the  purpose  of  swelling  the  dividends  beyond  the  amount 
which  they  would  have  reached  if  paid  legitimately  out  of  profits. 

When  a  rise  has  been  produced  by  these  means,  and  the 
directors  avail  themselves  of  it,  they  dispose  of  their  allotted 
shares  at  a  large  profit.  This  spurious  price  is  of  course  only 
temporary,  and  the  market  soon  declines.  The  deluded  public 
loses  precisely  to  the  extent  to  which  the  directors  and  those 
in  their  confidence  gain.  Thus  the  fortunes  of  the  widow  and 
orphan,  and  the  accumulations  of  industry  and  thrift,  are  fraud- 
ulently transferred  to  swell  the  colossal  fortunes  of  individual 
directors,  who  by  such  means  suddenly  rise  from  stations  com- 
paratively obscure  to  almost  fabulous  wealth. 

It  may  be  most  truly  replied,  that  proceedings  such  as  these 
are  rare,  that  directors  in  general  are  persons  altogether  inca- 
pable of  such  malpractices,  and  that  it  would  be  unjust  to  stig- 
matize a  large,  respectable,  and  intelligent  body  of  men,  to  the 
unwearied  exertions  and  talents  of  many  of  whom  the  world  is 
indebted  for  the  successful  issue  of  the  most  signal  improvement 
of  modern  times,  because  of  the  misconduct  of  some  individuals 
among  them.  To  this  it  is  answered,  that  unreserved  and  com- 
plete publicity  of  all  the  details  of  the  management  of  the  affairs 
of  each  company  can  alone  do  justice  to  the  respectable  and  in- 
dependent majority  of  directors.  Such  a  publicity  will  enable 
every  one  who  possesses  the  necessary  information  to  judge 
not  only  of  the  honesty  but  of  the  ability  of  the  management, 
and  without  such  publicity  there  can  be  no  test  by  which  the 
public  at  large  can  know  the  integrity  or  skill  with  which  any 
railway  establishment  is  conducted. 

An  intelligent  and  experienced  witness,  long  connected  with 
railway  affairs,  declared,  before  the  Committee  of  the  House 
of  Lords,  that  practices  of  misapplying  capital,  such  as  had  pi-e- 
vailed  in  certain  cases,  would  lead  at  some  period  to  "  total 
ruin,  and  in  the  mean  while  to  great  confusion,  and  an  entire 
misapprehension  of  the  value  of  each  undertaking." 

Another  said,  that  there  was  »>  no  safety  for  bondholders  or 
shareholders,  unless  the  separation  of  capital  from  revenue  was 
observed,  and  that  any  deviation  from  it  must  falsify  the  ac- 
counts and  deprive  the  public  of  the  means  of  measuring  the 
value  of  such  undertakings." 

An  experienced  accountant  stated,  that  under  the  present 


CHAP.  XXII.]        RAILWAYS  AND  THE  STATE.  431 

system  "  there  is  no  security  that  capital  and  income  snail  be 
kept  distinct,  and  that  the  practical  consequence  is,  that  the 
purchaser  who  buys  shares  does  so  in  ignorance  of  the  true 
state  of  the  company's  affairs,  and  is  led  to  give  a  higher  price 
than  the  thing  is  worth,  under  the  belief  that  the  dividends 
declared  come  bond  fide  out  of  profits.  Any  balance  under 
such  a  system,  may  be  struck  which  may  suit  the  purpose  of 
the  directors ;  any  dividend  may  be  declared,  and  the  public 
may  be  deceived  to  any  extent  desired." 

"  If  capital,"  says  the  Report  of  the  Lords'  Committee,  "be 
unduly  brought  to  increase  income,  or  ordinary  expenditure  be 
unduly  carried  to  the  account  of  capital,  the  apparent  balances 
may  be  varied  at  pleasure,  a  fallacious  and  fraudulent  value  may 
for  a  time  be  given  to  shares,  greatly  profitable  to  all  proprietors 
desirous  of  selling,  but  leading  to  results  fatal  to  the  interests  of 
the  more  important  class  who  invest  permanently  ;  for  the  sake 
of  a  deceptive  present  gain  the  value  of  the  reversion  will  be 
sacrificed.  Cases  may  easily  be  contemplated,  and  undoubtedly 
have  occurred,  in  which  the  future  profitable  working  of  the 
line  may  thus  be  endangered,  and  the  public  interests  connected 
with  the  maintenance  of  railways  be  placed  in  jeopardy,  if  not 
sacrificed."* 

To  guard  against  this  and  similar  abuses,  shareholders  have 
always  had  a  certain  power  at  reasonable  times  to  examine  the 
books  of  the  company,  but  this  power  has  proved,  as  might 
easily  have  been  foreseen,  illusory.  It  is  not  by  individual 
shareholders  going  to  a  railway  office,  and  demanding  journals 
and  ledgers,  and  running  over  their  pages,  that  any  real  estimate 
of  the  state  of  the  affairs  of  the  company  can  be  ascertained. 
This  is  a  proceeding  which  individual  shareholders  will  never 
be  induced  to  undertake,  nor,  if  they  did,  would  any  satisfactory 
result  ensue.  Practiced  accountants  alone  can  form  a  satisfactory 
estimate  of  the  financial  condition  of  the  company,  and  even  they 
could  only  accomplish  this  by  an  elaborate  examination  of  the 
books  ;  such  an  examination  as  individual  shareholders  could 
never  effect  by  the  means  provided  in  the  acts  of  incorporation. 
But  whatever  powers  may  be  conferred  upon  the  controlling 
or  auditing  body,  and  from  whatever  source  it  may  derive  its 
appointment  and  authority,  its  influence  will  be  unavailing  un- 
less the  most  ample  and  unreserved  publicity  be  given  to  the 
details  of  the  railway  management,  and  with  such  publicity  the 

*  Third  Report  of  the  Lords'  Committee,  June,  1849. 


432    t  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XXII. 

task  of  the  auditors  or  controllers  will  be  rendered  comparatively 
easy.  Their  duties  will  in  such  case  be  reduced  in  effect  to 
mere  verification  of  the  disbursements  by  the  vouchers ;  for,  by 
such  means,  the  public  at  large  would  be  converted  into  one 
great  and  unquestionable  Board  of  Audit.  Railway  affairs  would, 
in  a  word,  be  placed  under  the  immediate  operation  of  public 
opinion.  Raihvay  directors,  instead  of  demanding,  as  they  now 
do,  half-yearly  votes  of  confidence  from  their  blindfolded  con- 
stituents, would  receive  the  intelligent  approbation  of  a  well- 
informed  public. 

In  all  the  discussions  which  have  hitherto  taken  place  on  this 
question  of  railway  control,  a  stress  much  too  exclusive  has 
been  placed  on  the  fidelity  and  accuracy  of  the  report  of  the 
financial  condition  of  the  company,  as  if  the  honesty  and  integ- 
rity of  the  management  were  all  that  could  be  required  to  satisfy 
the  railway  proprietors  and  the  public.  The  degree  of  ability 
and  skill  with  which  the  affairs  of  the  railway  may  have  been 
conducted,  seems  to  be  wholly  left  out  of  view.  This  is  a  grave 
error.  Honesty  is  happily  a  much  more  ordinary  quality  than 
ability,  and  there  is  much  stronger  ground  for  distrusting  the 
skill  shown  in  the  management  of  the  enterprise  of  a  railway 
than  the  integrity  of  those  to  whom  the  management  is  con- 
fided. 

It  is  not,  therefore,  sufficient,  for  the  satisfaction  of  public 
opinion,  to  publish  an  authenticated  report  of  the  financial  con- 
dition of  each  railway  company. 

Such  details  of  its  management  must  also  be  given  as  may 
enable  all  persons  competently  informed  to  form  an  estimate 
of  the  skill  and  ability  with  which  its  affairs  have  been  con- 
ducted. They  must  be  in  a  condition  to  judge  whether  the 
capital  has  been  duly  utilized  ;  but,  to  place  them  in  this  con- 
dition, a  much  more  ample  report  of  the  business  of  the  com- 
pany must  be  published  than  any  which  has  hitherto  been  issued 
by  railway  companies  in  England,  or  even  on  the  Continent, 
where  the  periodical  reports  are  more  detailed.  The  Belgian 
government  alone  puts  forth  a  complete  and  satisfactory  annual 
report  of  Its  management.  We  do  not  maintain  that  the  expo- 
sition annually  supplied  to  the  public  by  the  Belgian  govern- 
ment of  the  administration  of  the  State  railways  may  not  be 
susceptible  of  improvement,  or  that  it  may  not  contain  some 
needless  detail.  It  can  not,  however,  be  denied  that  it  de- 
monstrates the  possibility  of  placing  the  affairs  of  railway  man- 
agement under  the  operation  of  public  opinion. 


CHAP.  XXII.]        RAILWAYS  AND  THE  STATE.  433 

The  report  should  be  annual,  and  not  half-yearly,  as  is  the  prac- 
tice in  England  ;  because  the  traffic  runs  through  its  periodical 
phases,  and  completes  them  with  the  revolution  of  the  seasons. 
Half-yearly  reports,  therefore,  supply  imperfect  inferences ; 
and  it  is  only  by  comparing  two  such  reports  successively  issued 
that  correct  average  results  can  be  obtained. 

While  I  would  therefore  propose  greater  amplitude  in  detail 
of  the  railway  reports,  I  would  suggest  that  they  should  bo 
published  annually  and  not  half-yearly,  and  as  soon  after  the 
commencement  of  each  year  as  might  be  practicable,  giving  the 
details  of  the  management  and  working  of  the  railway  for  the 
preceding  year. 

Such  a  report  might  consist  of  the  following  heads : 

SECTION  I. 

CONSTRUCTION    AND    STOCK. 

.  Sums  which  the  company  has  been  empowered  to  raise. — Sums  ac- 
tually raised  under  such  powers. — Sums  expended,  specifying  in  detail 
the  objects  to  which  they  have  been  appropriated,  and  the  sources  from 
which  they  have  been  derived. 

SECTION  II. 


This  section  should  contain  a  detailed  statement  of  the  current  ex- 
penses of  the  management  and  working  of  the  railways,  each  class  of 
disbursement  being  assigned  to  its  proper  head — such  as  direction  and 
management,  way  and  works,  locomotive  power,  carrying  expenses,  &c. 

SECTION  III. 

RECEIPTS. 

This  section  should  contain  a  detailed  statement  of  the  revenue  of 
the  company,  assigning  distinctly  the  amount  of  revenue  proceeding 
from  each  object  of  traffic,  such  as  passengers,  distinguished  by  classes, 
bag-gage,  parcels,  horses,  carriages,  mails,  and  all  objects  carried  by 
passenger  trains ;  goods  and  live  stock,  classed  according  to  their  tariff. 

The  receipts  should  also  be  stated  according  to  the  parts  of  the  line 
from  which  they  have  proceeded ;  thus  the  amount  received  for  each 
class  of  traffic  at  each  station  should  be  given. 

The  receipts  should  also  be  classified  according  to  the  period  of  the 
year  at  which  they  have  been  realized,  their  amounts  being  separately 
stated  for  each  successive  month. 

In  cases  where  a  graduated  tariff  has  been  established,  diminishing 

as  the  distance  to  which  the  objects  of  transport  arc  carried  is  increased, 

the  receipts  should  also  be  classified  according  to  the  distances  to  which 

the  objects  of  transport  producing  them  have  been  severally  carried,  so 

T 


434  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XXII 

as  to  show  the  amounts  of  revenue  which  have  proceeded  from  long 
traffic  and  short  traffic. 

Such  a  statement  is  supplied  in  the  reports  of  the  Belgian  railways. 

SECTION  IV. 

THE  MOVEMENT  OF  THE  TRAFFIC. 

This  section  should  contain  a  statement  of  the  quantity  and  mileage 
of  the  several  classes  of  traffic.  Thus  the  number  of  passengers  of 
each  class  booked  and  the  total  mileage  of  each  class  should  be  given. 
In  like  manner,  the  quantity  and  mileage  of  each  object  of  transport 
conveyed  by  passenger  trains,  such  as  baggage,  parcels,  mails,  horses, 
and  carriages,  should  be  stated.  The  comparison  of  the  quantity  of 
these  with  their  mileage  would  give  the  average  distance  over  which 
each  passenger  and  other  object  of  traffic  was  carried. 

A  like  statement  should  be  given  for  the  various  classes  of  goods 
traffic,  showing  in  each  case  the  quantity  booked  and  its  mileage. 

The  quantity  booked  at  each  section  of  the  line  should  be  distinctly 
given,  to  show  the  variation  of  the  traffic  on  different  parts  of  the  rail- 
way ;  and  the  quantity  in  each  month,  to  show  the  variation  of  the 
traffic  according  to  the  seasons. 

SECTION  V. 

THE    MOVEMENT    OF   THE    LOCOMOTIVE    STOCK. 

This  section  should  contain  a  statement  of  the  quantity  of  the  loco- 
motive stock,  enumerating  the  engines  with  the  circumstances  of  their 
origin,  construction,  age,  former  services,  and  their  current  mileage. 
The  distances  run  by  each  engine  during  the  year  should  be  stated,  as 
well  as  the  total  distance  it  has  run  since  first  put  upon  the  road.  The 
consumption  of  fuel  should  be  given,  distinguishing  that  which  is  con- 
sumed in  lighting  and  getting  up  steam,  and  standing,  and  in  profitable 
work.  The  consumption  of  oil  and  other  materials,  and  the  cost  of  re- 
pairs, should  also  be  given.  All  these  details  are  supplied  annually  in 
the  reports  of  the  Belgian  railways. 

SECTION  VI. 

THE    MOVEMENT    OF    THE    CARRYING   STOCK. 

This  section  should  contain  a  statement  of  the  entire  stock  of  vehicles 
of  transport  used  during  the  year,  distinguishing  them  according  to 
classes,  and  giving  their  mileages  respectively. 

Also  a  statement  of  the  consumption  of  materials,  cost  of  repairs,  &c. 

SECTION  VIL 

MOVEMENT   OF    TRAFFIC    COMPARED    WITH    MOVEMENT    OF   LOCOMOTIVE 
AND    CARRYING    STOCK. 

By  comparing  the  movement  of  the  different  classes  of  traffic  with 
the  movement  of  the  various  classes  of  vehicles  of  transport  to  which 
they  are  respectively  appropriated,  -we  can  obtain  the  average  load  car- 


CHAP.  XXII.]         RAILWAYS  AND  THE  STATE.  435 

ried  by  each  vehicle,  and  by  comparing  them  with  the  movement  of 
the  locomotive  stock,  we  can  obtain  the  average  load  drawn  by  each 
engine.  Data  are  thus  obtained  by  which  numerous  economical  prob- 
lems of  the  highest  importance  can  be  solved.  It  is  by  these  means 
that  we  can  ascertain  the  extent  to  which  the  moving  stock  of  the  rail- 
way has  been  utilized. 

SECTION  VII. 

RECEIPTS    AND    EXPENSES     COMPARED    WITH    THE    MOVEMENT      OF    THE 
TRAFFIC   AND    ROLLING    STOCK. 

By  this  comparison  may  be  ascertained  the  proportion  of  the  expenses 
chargeable  to  each  class,  and  even  to  each  individual  object  of  traffic. 
By  comparing  such  expenses  with  the  receipts  arising  from  each  object 
of  traffic,  the  profit  or  loss  arising  from  each  class  of  traffic  can  be 
ascertained. 

By  this  means  a  numerous  class  of  important  problems  can  be  solved 
which  are  intimately  connected  with  the  questions  of  the  tariff,  and  by 
which  alone  the  future  tariff  can  be  advantageously  regulated. 

SECTION  IX. 

THE    MOVEMENT    OF    THE    TRAFFIC    AND    ROLLING    STOCK    COMPARED 
WITH    THE    EXTENT    OF    THE    RAILWAY. 

The  comparison  made  in  this  section  would  show  the  extent  to  which 
the  railway  itself  has  been  utilized.  It  would  indicate  the  proportion 
in  which  the  traffic  has  been  distributed  over  it,  showing  the  quantity 
of  profitable  load  as  well  as  of  dead  weight  which  has  been  transported 
between  station  and  station  on  every  part  of  the  line.  This  would  also 
indicate  the  extent  to  which  the  local  supply  of  traffic  may  have  been 
cultivated,  and  would  direct  the  attention  of  managers  and  the  public  to 
the  still  unsatisfied  exigencies,  of  the  districts  through  which  the  rail- 
ways may  be  carried. 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  a  report  containing  details  such 
aa  I  have  enumerated  here,  is  either  difficult  or  impracticable. 

Many  of  them  are  regularly  supplied  in  the  annual  reports  of 
most  of  the  continental  railway  companies,  and  all  of  them,  and 
many  others  still  more  minute,  are  contained  in  the  annual  rail- 
way report  of  the  Belgian  government.  It  is  true,  that  the  ex- 
isting arrangements  of  the  English  railways  do  not  afford  the 
means  of  recording  some  of  these  statistical  facts,  but  nothing 
would  be  more  easy  than  to  organize  in  this  country,  as  else- 
where, the  means  of  recording  them. 

In  order  to  show  the  extent  to  which  the  movable  Stock  of  the 
railway  has  been  utilized,  it  is  essential  to  supply  the  means  of 
comparing  the  movement  of  the  rolling  stock  with  the  movement 
of  the  traffic.  It  is  by  such  a  comparison  alone  that  the  average 


436  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XXII 

amount  of  loads  carried  by  the  different  vehicles  of  transport  can 
be  accurately  ascertained.  This  will  be  easily  comprehended 
from  the  preceding  part  of  this  volume. 

If  we  know  the  distance  which  any  class  of  vehicles  of  trans- 
port have  traveled  within  the  year,  and  also  know  the  distance 
over  which  each  class  of  objects  of  transport  to  which  such  vehi- 
cles are  appropriated  have  been  carried,  the  comparison  will 
immediately  supply  the  means  of  ascertaining  the  average  load 
carried  by  each  vehicle,  and  this  average  load  is  the  only  expo- 
nent of  the  extent  to  which  each  class  of  vehicle  has  been  utilized. 

To  accomplish  this  it  would  be  necessary  to  keep  separate 
mileage  accounts  of  the  traffic  and  of  the  rolling  stock.  In  the 
case  of  the  traffic,  its  mileage  can  be  immediately  ascertained 
from  the  record  of  the  receipts,  inasmuch  as  each  sum  received 
represents  the  transport  of  a  given  object  to  a  given  distance. 

In  the  case  of  the  vehicles  of  transport,  the  manner  in  which 
the  mileage  has  been  hitherto  kept  on  continental  lines  is  not  as 
simple  and  satisfactory  as  could  be  desired.  The  places  of  de- 
parture and  arrival  of  each  vehicle  are  registered,  and  reports 
from  the  different  stations  are  received,  the  comparison  of  which 
supplies  the  means  of  computing  the  mileage. 

Nothing,  however,  would  be  more  easy  than  to  attach  to  each 
vehicle  of  transport  a  counter,  which  would  become  a  self-acting 
register  of  the  aggregate  space  over  which  each  vehicle  has  run. 
These  counters,  when  required  in  large  numbers,  could  be  con- 
structed at  a  small  expense.  They  are  not  liable  to  derange- 
ment, and  would  relieve  the  railway  administration  from  the 
clumsy  and  expensive  method  of  observing  and  registering  the 
movement  of  the  stock,  and,  in  fine,  would  accomplish  the  object 
with  greater  certainty  and  accuracy.  The  counters,  as  com- 
monly constructed,  run  up  to  a  million  of  revolutions  of  the 
wheels,  which,  with  a  wheel  ten  feet  in  circumference,  would, 
in  round  numbers,  extend  to  about  two  thousand  miles. 

Similar  instruments  might  be  attached  to  the  engines,  by 
which  a  register  of  their  mileage  would  be  kept.  In  this  man- 
ner an  account  recorded  of  the  movement  of  the  entire  rolling 
stock  would  be  obtained  at  a  nominal  expense,  nothing  more 
being  necessary  than  to  provide  agents  who  would  attend  to  and 
record  the  indications  of  the  counters. 

The  expenses,  besides  being  recorded  under  the  usual  heads 
of  direction,  way  and  works,  locomotive  power,  carrying  ex- 
penses, &c.,  should  also  be  distributed  according  to  some  prin- 
ciples such  as  those  which  have  been  explained  in  Chap.  XII., 


CHAP.  XXII.]        RAILWAYS  AND  THE  STATE.  437 

so  as  to  enable  the  managers  of  the  road  to  ascertain  the  cost  at 
which  each  object  of  traffic  has  been  transported.  It  is  by  a 
comparison  of  this  cost  with  the  tariff,  that  the  profit  arising 
from  each  object  of  traffic  is  ascertained.  Data  would  thus  be 
also  obtained,  by  which  the  managers  could  ascertain  what  in- 
creased expense  would  be  produced  by  any  given  increase  of 
the  distance  to  which  each  object  of  traffic  is  transported,  and 
hence  would  arise  the  data  necessary  for  the  formation  of  a 
graduated  tariff,  diminishing  in  its  rate  per  mile  according  as  the 
distances  to  which  the  objects  of  traffic  respectively  are  trans- 
ported are  increased. 

These,  and  a  multitude  of  other  practical  problems,  involving 
the  most  important  economical  principles  in  railway  manage- 
ment will  at  once  suggest  themselves  as  arising  out  of  the  cir- 
cumstances here  adverted  to,  and  the  solution  of  which  would 
be  altogether  impossible  unless  data,  such  as  those  here  de- 
scribed, could  be  obtained. 

No  such  data  can  be  obtained,  however,  from  the  present  sys- 
tem of  railway  accounts,  nor  is  it  possible  for  directors  and  man- 
agers themselves  to  obtain  the  means  of  solving  such  economical 
problems. 

Connected  with  each  railway  administration,  a  statistical 
bureau  should  be  established  for  organizing  and  recording  these 
classes  of  data.*  Such  bureaus  are  already  established  in  con- 
nection with  several  of  the  best  conducted  continental  railways, 
and  although  their  operations  have  not  been  in  all  cases  con- 
ducted so  efficiently  as  could  be  desired,  they  are,  nevertheless, 
attended  with  the  best  effects. 

It  can  not  escape  observation  that,  by  the  publication  of  such 
ample  and  detailed  reports  as  I  have  here  proposed,  the  func- 
tions of  the  board  of  audit,  about  which  so  much  discussion  has 
taken  place,  would  be  stripped  of  much  of  their  invidious  character, 
and  less  difference  of  opinion  would  prevail  as  to  the  source  from 
which  they  might  derive  their  nomination  and  authority. 

*  The  business  of  such  a  bureau,  and  indeed  that  of  other  depart- 
ments in  the  railway  administration,  would  be  materially  facilitated  and 
expedited  by  the  adoption  of  "  FULLER'S  Calculating  Scale,"  which  is 
an  improvement  on  t'he  sliding  rule,  the  uses  and  application  of  which 
it  has  enlarged  so  as  to  become  almost  a  new  instrument.  In  all  statis- 
tical inquiries,  where  rates  percentages  and  arithmetical  reductions  are 
necessary,  it  supplies  the  place  of  a  table  of  logarithms,  and  gives  the 
results  with  much  greater  expedition,  and  with  sufficient  accuracy  for 
all  practical  purposes. 


438  RAILWAY  ECONOMY.  [CHAP.  XXII. 

It  is  sometimes  contended  that  railways,  being  commercial 
companies,  whose  concerns  affect  only  their  respective  share- 
holders, publicity  should  not  be  exacted  from  them,  and  that  the 
shareholders  alone  have  a  right  to  be  informed  of  the  affairs  of 
their  administration  and  management;  but  to  this  it  may  be 
answered,  that  nothing  short  of  publicity  can  bring  such  inform- 
ation to  the  knowledge  of  bodies  so  large  and  fluctuating  as  those 
of  railway  shareholders.  By  what  means,  short  of  general  pub- 
licity for  example,  could  a  body  like  the  proprietors  of  the  North- 
western Railway,  acquire  a  clear,  full,  and  satisfactory  knowl- 
edge of  the  affairs  of  that  vast  enterprise  ? 

Besides,  it  may  be  answered,  the  shares  being  matters  of  daily 
bargain  and  sale  in  the  public  market,  every  individual  who  may 
become  a  purchaser  has  a  claim  to  a  full  knowledge  of  the  state 
of  the  affairs  of  the  company  into  which  he  is  about  to  enter. 

In  fine,  considering  the  questions  which  have  been  agitated 
for  some  months  respecting  the  great  railway  enterprises  of  the 
country,  in  all  their  bearings  and  relations,  no  expedient  appears 
so  likely  to  remedy  the  evils  which  have  formed  the  subject  of 
universal  complaint  and  remonstrance,  to  revive  public  confi- 
dence, and  to  restore  railway  property  to  its  just  value  in  the 
public  market,  as  a  system  of  publicity  such  as  is  here  recom- 
mended. 


INDEX, 


ACCIDENTS,  265,  335;   chances  of,  265; 

class  of  passengers,  237  ;  from  traffic  in 

causes  of,  273;   rules  to  prevent,  277; 
fog  signals,  278  ;  analysis  of  cases  pro- 

general, 241  ;   proportion  of  receipls  to 
length,   traffic,  and  capital,  243  ;  daily 

duced  by  imprudence,  282  ;  precautions 

receipts   per  mile,  243;    proportion  of 

against,  283  :  plain  rules  to  avoid,  284. 

receipts  to  increase  of  railways,   244  ; 

American  electric  telegraph,  302. 

proportion  of  receipts   to  capital,   264  ; 

accidents  on,  267.      (See  Great  West- 

Baggage,  128. 

ern,Northwestern,  Southeastern,  South- 

Baggage vans,  91. 

western,  and   Brighton   Railways,  Re- 

Belgian   railways,   349;   register  of,   72; 

ceipts,  Expenses,  Profits,   Locomotive, 

locomotive   stock,   73  ;   mileage  of  en- 

Carrying stock,  Capital.) 

gines,  75;  carrying  stock,  92;   mileage 

of,  94;  goods  wagons,  131;  number  of 
passengers  carried  by  each  train,   171  ; 

Capital  of  railways  in  United  Kingdom, 
68;  and  revenue,  116;  account,  116;  of 

transport  of  horses  and  carriages,  174  ; 

all  the  railways  in  the  world.     (See  Bel- 

expenses of  locomotive  power,  215  ;  anal 

gian,  French,  German  and  United  Stales 

ysis  and   expenses  of   carrying    stock, 

Railways.) 

220  ;  proportional  expenses  of  station  for 

Carriage,  service  of,  52  ;  trucks,  91,  192  ; 

goods,  228  ;  estimated  station  expenses, 

depdt,  120;  station,  126;  sheds,  138. 

330  ;  analysis  of  general  expenses,  230  ; 

Carriages  136,  192  ;  weight  of  augmented. 

receipts,  expenses,  and  profits,  247;  en- 
couragement to  complete    loads,   261; 

58  ;  passenger,  90  ;  passenger  of  North- 
western, 97;  cost  of,  112;  mixed,  261; 

length,  349  ;  description,  350  ;  construct- 

on railways  of  the  United  States,  387. 

ed  by  state,  351  ;    Belgian  commerce, 

(  'nrr\  in<;  stock,  89  ;  weight  of  augmented, 

351  ;    character  of   the    country,   352  ; 

58  ;  Belgian,  92  ;  North  of  France,  92  ; 

curves,   353  :    gradients,    353  ;    cost  of 

Northwestern,  92,  97,  110;   register  of, 

construction,  353;    cost  per  mile,  354; 

93;    mileage,   94,   95,   96,   98;    number 

rolling  stock,  354  ;   locomotive   power, 

necessary  to  stock  railway,  98,  170  ;  rail- 

passenger traffic,  357  ;  goods  traffic,  357  ; 
traffic  compared  with  extent  of  railway, 
357  ;    local  variations  of  traffic,  varia- 

way manufactories  of,  108  ;  of  English 
railways,  112;  question  as  to  deteriora- 
tion,  114;   average  load,  168;   number, 

tions  of  traffic  with  seasons,  360  ;  per- 

170 ;  expenses,  220,  230  ;  analysis  of  ex- 

centage of  number,   mileage,   and  re- 

penses of,  in  Belgium,  220,  221  ;  mixed 

ceipts  of  passengers,   361  ;    traffic  ac- 

carriages, 261. 

cording  to  distance,  361  ;  proportions  of 

Cattle  wagons,  92. 

revenue  contributed  by  traffic  363  ;  pro- 

Chairs, 208;  expenses  of  repair,  207. 

portion  of  expenses  chargeable  to  usual 

Clearing  house,  140;  bankers',  141;  com- 

heads, 363  ;  comparison  of  receipts,  ex- 

panies associated  in,  143  ;  goods  traffic 

penses,  and  profits,  with  length  of  line, 
364;  speed,  365;  passenger  traffic,  365; 

and  live  stock,  146;   passenger  traffic, 
147;  parcels,  148;  carrying  stock,  149; 

constructed    by   companies,   365  ;    esti- 
mated cost  of,  367. 

statistics,   151;    capable  of  extension, 
151  ;  passengers  lecorded  in,  156. 

Brighton  and  South  Coast  railway,  coke, 

Coal,  consumed  in  making  coke  on  British 

82;   number  of  passengers  per  engine, 

railways,  84. 

172;    distance   traveled   per   passenger, 

Coke,  80  ;  fabrication  of,  80  ;  quantity  pro- 

each  train,   173;    departures,   175;   ex- 

Great Western,  81  :   on   Northwestern 

pense  of  locomotive  power,  218  ;   esti- 

and Brighton  and  South  Coast,  82;  on- 

mated  general  working  expenses,  233. 

British  railways,  89. 

(See  British  railways.) 

Counter,  to  register  mileage,  436. 

British   railways,    mileage    of   pnssonsrrr 

Cost  of  railway  traveling  compared  with 

coach.>s.  <K  i  :,-.>  ;  passenger  traffic,  154; 

old  mode,  164. 

158.  163;    length  of,    166;  speed,   177, 

Crusades,  influence  on  art  of  transport,  45. 

goods  mileage,  185;  estimated  working 

expenses  of,  233;  receipts  on,  235;  pro- 

Dead weight  drawn  by  each  engine,  105. 

portion  per  cent,  of  receipts  from  each 

Derailment,  279. 

440 


INDEX. 


Engine,  ls?7,  132  ;   weight  of  augmented, 

goods  traffic,  and  receipts  from  it,  384; 

58  ;  passenger,  71  ;  goods,  71  ;  to  ascer- 
tain mileage,  73  ;  can  not  be  used  indefi- 

receipts, expenses,  and  profits,  385;  pro- 
portion of  receipts,  expenses,  and  profits 

nitely,  74  ;  to  determine  average  number 

per  mile,  of  trains  and  of  lines,  and  per 

of  miles  run  by,  after  lighting,  75  ;  num- 

cent, of  capital,  385;  speed  386. 

ber   lighted   on   Belgian  railways,   75; 

Fuel,  consumed  in  working  railways,  77  ; 

on  Orleans  railway.  75  ;  reserve,  76  ;  as- 
sistant on  bank,  76;   number  of  times 

economy  of  on  Belgian  lines,  78  ;  regis- 
ter of  on  Belgian  lines,  79;  sources  for 

lighted  on  Belgian  railways,  82;  require 

economizing,  80,  142. 

three  days  a  week  for  cleaning,  83  ;  use- 

ful service  of,  on  Belgian  lines,  83  ;  total 

German  railways,  387  ;  description  of,  387  ; 

annual  and  daily  mileage  on  foreign  rail- 
ways, 83  ;  useful  service  of,  on  North- 

summary of  length  completed,  in  pro- 
gress, and  projected,  392  ;  detail  of  lines. 

western,  83;  fixed,   127;   station,  134; 

392  ;  constructed  by  companies  and  gov- 

stable, 135;  number  of  passengers  drawn 

ernment,  395  ;  on  similar  principles  to 

by,  172  ;  action  of  at  high  speeds,  178  ; 

American,   396  ;  gradients  and  curves, 

relation  between  mileage  of  and  receipts, 

397;  cost  of  construction,  401  ;  cost  per 

262.     (See  Locomotive.) 

mile,  403  ;  causes  of  low  rate  of  cost,  402  ; 

Engine   drivers,  distance   driven   by,  on 

self  acting  planes,  398  ;  rails,  400  ;  prices 

Northwestern,  85. 

of  land  and  labor,  402  ;   proportion  of 

Expenses,  191  ;  objects  of  analysis  of,  194  ; 

cost  shared  between  land,  road,  stations, 

relation  of  to  services,  198;  of  direction 

and  stock,  403  ;  mode  of  working  traffic, 

and  management,  201  ;  way  and  works, 

403  ;  passengers,  404  ;  mixed  trains,  404  ; 

204  ;  causes  of  repair  of  iron  work  of 

movement  of  trains,  404  ;  movement  of 

road,  207  ;  locomotive  power,  211  ;  of  lo- 

traffic 413;   distance  traveled   and  re- 

comotive power,  how  distributed  among 

ceipts,   407;    proportion  of  passengers, 

carrying  stock,  214  ;  carrying,  220  ;  re- 

410; fares,  410;  tariffs,  410;  local  vari- 

capitulation of  various  heads  of,  225  ; 
stations,  226  ;  chargeable  independently 
of  distance,  226  ;  proposal  of  M.  Teisse- 

ations  of  traffic,  411  ;  gross  receipts  per 
mile  and  per  cent,  of  capital,  412  ;  pro- 
portion of  receipts  from  passengers  and 

renc  to  fix  common  measure  for  expenses 
of  stations,  258  ;  estimated,  of  stations 
on  Belgian  railways,  230  ;  measures  for 
increased  economy  of,  233;   gross  ex- 

goods, 411  ;  working  expenses,  411  ;  re- 
ceipts, expenses  and  profits,  compared 
with  length  of  railway,  proportion  per 
ct.  of  expenses  to  receipts  and  of  receipts 

penses  classified,  250  ;  decreased  by  in- 

and profits  to  capital,  412  ;  speed,  413  ; 

creasing    distance    of   transport,    256  ; 
means  of  diminishing,  262  ;  on  Belgian 

percentage  of  miles  in  the  several  states 
in  reference  to  territorial  surface,  417. 

railways,  353.      (See  British,   Belgian, 

Goods  engines,  71,  132  ;  wagons.  92,  131  ; 

United  States,  and  German  railways.) 

carrying  stock,  mileage  of,  98,  187;  num- 
ber of  carrying  stock  on  Northwestern, 

Fog  signals,  278. 

99  ;  movement  of  on  Northwestern,  99  ; 

Foreign  railways,  carrying  stock,  96  ;  mile- 

station, 120,  131;  accounts,  146;  mile- 

age, 83,  96. 

age,  183,  187. 

French  revolution,  its  influence  on  inter- 

Goods traffic,   182;    clearing  house,  145; 

nal  commerce,  46  ;  roads,  46  ;  canal  nav- 

mileage, 184,  190;  distance  per  ton,  184; 

igation,  311. 

213  ;  augmentation,  187  ;  compared  with 

French  railways,  367;  introduced  by  M. 

development    of  railways,    188.     (See 

E.  Pereire,  367;  St.  Germains  line,  368  ; 

British,  Belgian,  German,  and  United 

commission  appointed  bv  Chambers,  368; 

States  railways.) 

Paris  and  Orleans  and  Paris  and  Rouen 
lines,  369  ;  law  of  llth  June,  1842,  369  ; 

Goods  wagons,  average  load,  99. 
Grease,  (yellow),  137. 

description  of,  369  ;  length  of,  completed, 

Grease-box,  137. 

in  progress,  and  projected,  374  ;  cost  of 

Great  Western  :  coke,  81  ;  number  of  pas- 

construction, 376;  estimated  cost  of  all 

sengers  drawn  by  each  engine,  172  ;  dis- 

the, 377;   companies  tenants  of  State, 
377  ;    mode    of   receiving    tenders    for 

tance  traveled  by  each  passenger,  172  ; 
departures,  175;  expenses  of  locomotive 

leases,  377  ;   locomotive   and   carrying 

power,  219  ;  estimated  general  working 

stock,  378;   locomotive  duty  and  con- 

expenses, 233.     (See  British  railways.) 

sumption  of  fuel,   378  ;    average  daily 

movement  of  locomotive  stock  of  North 

Horses,  126,  174. 

of  France,  379;  of  carrying  stock,  379; 

Horse-boxes,  51,  126,  174. 

relation  between  movement  of  rolling 
stock  and  extent  of  railway,  380  ;  pas- 

Horse-power, compared  with  steam-pow- 
er, 163,  188. 

senger  traffic,  380  ;  receipts,  380  ;  propor- 

tion of  business  and  receipts  supplied  by 
several  classes  of  passengers,  382;  daily 

Inclined  plane,  127. 
Italian  railways,  404. 

movement  and  daily  receipts  of  passen- 
ger traffic,  383  ;  share  of  every  XI  00  by 
each  class  of  traffic,  384  ;  movement  of 

Load,  average  of  passenger  carriages,  168; 
of  goods  wagons,  99. 

INDEX. 


441 


Live  stock:  clearing  house,  146;  mileage, 
184. 

Locomotive  power,  71 ;  stock,  71 ;  Bel- 
gian stock,  72 ;  quantity  of,  independent 
of  length  of  line,  86 ;  depends  on  mile- 
age, 87 ;  or  on  amount  of  receipts,  88 ; 
number  of  locomotives  on  British  rail- 
ways, 88;  mileage,  88;  railway  loco- 
motive manufactories,  108;  stock  of 
Northwestern,  111 ;  depdt,  120  ;  expense 
of,  211,  230.  (See  Engine,  British,  Bel- 
gian, French,  German,  and  United  States 
railways.) 

London  retail  dealers,  133. 

London  fruit,  134. 

Lost  luggage  office,  128. 

Luggage,,  128,  allowed,  122 ;  free,  122. 

Mileage,  definition  of,  87. 

Morrison,  K.,  suggests  clearing  house,  141. 

Napoleon,  roads  projected  and  executed 
by,  46. 

Naviiration  developed  earlier  than  internal 
commerce,  46.  (See  United  States.) 

North  of  France  Railway,  carrying  stock 
of,  92  ;  mileage  of  passenger  vehicles, 
96,  97 ;  goods  wagons,  131 ;  number  of 
passengers  carried  by  each  train,  171  ; 
average  daily  movement  of  locomotive 
stock,  172.  (See  French  railways.) 

Northwestern,  investigation  of  durability 
of  rails  by,  63;  coke,  82;  service  of  en- 
gines, 84;  engine  drivers,  85;  carrying 
stock,  93,  97,  106,  110;  movement  of 
carrying  stock,  99;  manufactories,  108; 
locomotive  stock,  111  ;  goods  wagons, 
131;  goods  engines,  132;  goods  trains, 
133;  number  of  passengers  drawn  by 
each  engine,  172 ;  distance  traveled  per 
passenger,  172;  departures,  175;  per- 
sons and  horses  employed,  190 ;  expenses 
of  locomotive  power,  219;  estimated 
general  working  expenses.  (Sec  British 
railways,  Expenses,  Receipts,  Profits.) 

Orleans  Railway,  mileage  of  engines,  75 

Parcels,  123,  133. 

Parcel  vans,  91. 

Passenger  engines,  71 ;  station,  120. 

Passenger  carriages,  load,  168. 

Passenger  traffic,  152;  mileage  account, 
100;  clearing  house,  147;  mileage  of, 
152, 169  ;  augmentation  of,  162,  167, 186; 
comparative,  per  mile,  167:  decrease, 
168.  (Sec  British,  French,  Belgian.  Ger- 
man, and  United  States  Railways.) 

Post  offices,  91. 

Profits,  235 ;  may  be  increased  by  in- 
creasing distance  of  transport,  259  ;  and 
regulating  tariff  of  empty  transport  and 
incomplete  loads,  260.  (See  British,  Bel- 
gian, French,  German,  and  United  States 
railways.) 

Rail?,  gradual  wear,  56-63 ;  means  of 
calculating  duration,  56;  weight  aug- 
mented, 58 ;  recommended  by  Stephen 


son  and  Locke,  59 ;  modes  of  support, 
59 ;  durability  of,  investigated,  60,  207 ; 
expenses  of  repair,  204  ;  reserve  fund  for 
relaying,  65 ;  on  United  States  railways, 
342. 

Railways,  organization  of  administration 
of,  52 ;  newly  constructed  require  fre- 
quent repair,  55;  erroneous  opinion  as 
to  durability,  57;  date  of  modern,  56; 
projects  sanctioned  by  parliament,  67 ; 
extent  to  which  used  by  rolling  stock, 
103  ;  proprietors  carriers  on,  108  ;  devel- 
opment of  compared  with  traffic,  166, 
188 ;  length  of  British,  166  ;  trains  classi- 
fied, 176 ;  accidents  on,  265 ;  in  different 
countries,  416 ;  population,  extent  of 
territory,  extent  of  railway  and  capital 
in  countries  where  railways  exist,  417  ; 
comparison  of  length  of  railways  and 
capital  with  population  and  territory, 
418;  relation  of  to  State,  421 ;  in  some 
countries  constructed  and  worked  by 
State,  423 ;  in  others  a  mixed  system, 
423  ;  case  of  English  railway  companies 
peculiar,  424 ;  demand  of  system  of  con- 
trol, 424 ;  right  of  parliament  to  inter- 
fere, 424;  necessity  of  control,  425 ;  nom- 
ination of  Board  of  Control,  426;  par- 
liamentary evidence  on  audit  system, 
427;  objects  of  control,  428;  reports  of 
House  of  Lords,  431 ;  details  necessary 
in  railway  accounts,  433 ;  advantages  of 
complete  record  of  railway  affairs,  433; 
necessity  of  publishing  such  record,  438 ; 
(See  British,  Belgian,  French,  German, 
United  States,  Russian,  Italian,  and 
Spanish  railways.) 

Receipts,  235;  on  British  railways,  235; 
on  what  gross  receipts  depend,  247 ;  re- 
lation between  variation  in  and  tariff, 
248 ;  means  of  augmenting,  257  ;  rela- 
tion between  mileage  of  engines  and, 
262;  on  Belgian  railways,  364.  (See 
Belgian,  British,  French,  German,  and 
United  States  railways.) 

Register  of  locomotive  stock,  71;  of  Bel- 
gian railways,  72. 

Repairs,  chief  objects  of  annual  repairs  of 
way,  55. 

Reserve  fund  for  relaying  permanent  way, 
65. 

Revenue  and  capital,  115. 

Roads  only  in  two  sevenths  of  inhabited 
parts  of  globe,  42 ;  Roman  and  Egyptian, 
42;  constructed  hy  Semiramis,  43;  in 
ancient  Greece,  43;  of  the  Phoenicians, 
and  Carthaginians,  43  ;  ancient  Roman, 
44 ;  constructed  by  Romans,  44 ;  pro- 
jected and  made  by  Napoleon,  46;  in 
western  Europe  after  peace  of  1802,  46 ; 
French,  47;  English,  48;  Roman,  in 
England,  48. 

Rolling  stock,  maintenance  and  repro- 
duction of,  107;  on  Belgian  railways, 

Rules  (plain)  to  avoid  accidents,  284. 
Russian  railways,  414. 

Sleepers,  60;  material,  60;  distance,  60; 


442 


INDEX. 


magnitude,  60 ;  investigation  as  to  du-  ] 

rability,  61 ;  expenses  of  repair,  207. 
Spanish  railways,  416. 
Southeastern:  departures,  175;  estimated 

general   working    expenses,   233.     (See 

British  railways.) 
Southwestern :  departures,  175 ;  estimated 

general   working    expenses,   233.     (See 

British  railways.) 
Speed,  176,  336,  365,  386,  413  ;  depends  on 

stoppages,  175 ;  injurious  effects  of  high, 

Stations,  119;  service  of,  52;  passenger, 
121 ;  goods,  131 ;  engine,  134  ;  carriage 
and  wagon,  136 ;  intermediate,  138 ; 
number,  138 ;  expenses,  226. 

Statistical  bureau,  437. 

Stock,  valuation  of,  118. 

Stoppages,  injurious  effects  of,  176. 


Tariff,  195,  235,  247 ;  goods,  18 

lation  between  variation  of  tariff  and 
receipts,  248;  skill  required  to  adjust, 
252  ;  may  be  reduced  by  increasing  dis- 
tance of  transport,  257 ;  on  empty  trans- 
port and  incomplete  loads,  260. 

Telegraph  (Electric),  38,  296  ;  discovery 
of  phenomena  subservient  to,  296 ;  con- 
ductors and  non-conductors,  297 ;  effects 
used  as  signals,  297  ;  mode  of  operation, 
299;  in  United  States,  302;  sub-marine, 
304;  in  England,  306;  tariff  of  charges, 
306;  subscription  intelligence  rooms, 
307 ;  in  Prussia,  307 ;  extent  in  England, 
308;  project  of  East  India  Company, 
308  ;  cost  of  construction,  308. 

Tenders,  number  of,  should  be  equal  to 
engines,  88. 

Traffic,  compared  with  development  of 
railways,  1C5.  (See  British,  Belgian1, 
French,  German,  and  United  States 
railways.) 

Trains,  increase  in  speed  of,  58 ;  increase 
in  number  and  weight  of,  58;  composi- 
tion of,  99 ;  arrangements  of,  126 ;  arrival, 
128;  for  poorer  classes,  161 ;  number  of 
passengers  carried  by  each,  171 ;  classi- 
fied, 176 ;  express,  180. 

Transport,  improved,  influence  of  on  civil- 
ization, 25;  requisites  of,  26;  advan- 
tages, 26 ;  confers  value  on  things  value- 
less, 29 ;  augments  commerce,  30 ;  pir- 
liamentary  evidence  as  to,  31 ;  augments 
rent  and  profit  of  farmer,  33;  import- 


ance of  speed  as  regards  persons,  34 ; 
importance  of  improved  transport  to 
operative  classes,  34  ;  enlarges  area  of 
supply  and  of  residence  for  large  towns, 
35;  importance  in  military  affairs,  37; 
diminishes  chances  and  duration  of  war, 
37 ;  tends  to  diffusion  of  knowledge  and 
increase  of  civilization,  38 ;  effect  of 
rapid,  exhibited  in  journalism,  38;  ret- 
rospect of  progress  of,  41 ;  influence  of 
Crusades  on,  45  ;  impediments  by  fiscal 
exactions,  46  ;  on  English  roads,  49. 
Traveling  (railwav)  compared  with  old 
mode,  163,  188. 

United  Kingdom:  canal  navigation,  311; 
railway  in  proportion  to  population 
343. 

United  States :  transport  in,  308 :  canal 
navigation,  309;  river  navigation,  311  ; 
Hudson  steamers,  313;  Ericsson's  en- 
gine, 316;  steamers  of  other  rivers, 
323;  Ericsson's  propellers,  325;  sea- 
going steamers,  326;  railways  intro- 
duced, 327 ;  length  of,  327 :  description 
of,  328:  mixed  lines,  328;  steam  ferries, 
334  ;  mode  of  construction  of  railways, 
335 ;  mode  of  working,  336 ;  speed  on, 
336  ;  accidents,  337  ;  cartages,  337 ; 
curves,  338;  railways  completed,  in 
progress,  and  projected,  339 ;  cost  of 
construction,  342 ;  dividends  and  price 
of  shares,  339 ;  roads,  345 ;  extent  of 
railways  and  canals  in  proportion  to 
population,  345 ;  passengers  on  railways, 
346;  railways  constructed  by  companies, 
346;  little  goods  traffic,  347;  conditions 
imposed  by  States  on  railway  companies, 
347 ;  railway  act,  348 ;  inducements  by 
States  to  companies,  348. 

Valuation  of  stock,  118. 

Vehicles  (public)  in  connection  with  rail- 
ways, 121, 123,  132. 

Vehicles  of  transport.  (See  Carrying 
stock. 

Wagons  station,  136. 

Way  and  works,  53 ;  service  of,  52 ;  wear, 
53 ;  expenses  of,  204,  230. 

Way  (permanent),  with  given  traffic, 
when  relaid,  54 ;  reserve  fund  for  re- 
laying, 54. 

Wheels.  136 


THE    END. 


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Practical  Purposes.  With  numerous  Engravings.  18mo,  half 
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Stansbury's  Interest  Tables  at  Seven  Per  Cent. 

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Muslin,  75  cents. 

Smith's  Elementary  Treatise  on  Mechanics. 

Embracing  the  Theory  of  Statics  and  Dynamics,  and  its  Appli- 
cation to  Solids  and  Fluids.  With  Illustrations.  8vo,  Muslin, 
81  50;  Sheep  extra,  $1  75. 

Wyatt's  Manual  of  Conchology, 

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Improvements  by  De  Blainville.  Exemplified  and  arranged  for 
the  Use  of  Students,  by  THOMAS  WYATT,  M.A.  Illustrated  with 
36  Plates,  containing  more  than  200  Types  drawn  from  the  Nat- 
ural Shell.  8vo,  Muslin,  $2  75  ;  colored  Plates,  $8  00. 

Button's  Book  of  Nature  laid  Open. 

Revised  and  improved  by  J.  L.  BLAKE,  D.D.  With  Questions 
for  Schools.  18mo,  Muslin,  37£  cents. 

The  Physical  Condition  of  the  Earth. 

The  Earth :  its  Physical  Condition  and  most  remarkable  Phe- 
nomena. By  W.  M.  HIOGINS.  With  Engravings.  18mo,  Mus- 
lin, 45  cents. 

Moseley's  Illustrations  of  Mechanics. 

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The  Parlor  Book  of  Flowers ; 

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Colored  Engravings  of  24  Exotic  Flowers,  24  Wild  Flowers  of 
America,  and  12  Trees  with  Fruits.  With  an  Introduction  to 
the  Science  of  Botany.  By  JOHN  B.  NEWMAN,  M.D.  Illustrated 
with  250  Engravings.  8vo,  Morocco,  gilt  edges,  $5  00. 

Euler's  Letters  on  Natural  Philosophy. 

Letters  of  Euler  on  different  Subjects  of  Natural  Philosophy : 
addressed  to  a  German  Princess.  Translated  by  HUNTER. 
With  Notes  and  a  Life  of  Euler,  by  Sir  DAVID  BREWSTER  ;  and 
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Popular  Guide  to  the  Observation  of  Nature ; 

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Herschel  on  the  Study  of  Natural  Philosophy. 

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Natural  History  of  Insects. 

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Works  Relating  to  the  Arts,  Sciences,  fyc.     5 

Has  well's  Engineers'  and  Mechanics'  Pocket- 
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Segments,  and  Zones  of  a  Circle  ;  Squares  and  Cubes,  Square 
and  Cube  Roots  ;  Lengths  of  Circular  and  Semi-elliptic  Arcs  ; 
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the  Mechanical  Powers ;  Geometry,  Trigonometry,  Gravity, 
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engine  ;  Combustion,  Water,  Cables  and  Anchors,  Fuel,  Air, 
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cellaneous Notes,  and  Exercises,  &c.  12mo,  Pocket-book 
form,  $1  25. 

Natural  History  of  the  Elephant. 

As  he  exists  in  a  Wild  State,  and  as  he  has  been  made  sub- 
servient, in  Peace  and  in  War,  to  the  Purposes  of  Man.  By 
JAMES  RENNIE.  With  Engravings.  18mo,  Muslin,  45  cents. 

The  Principles  of  Science  applied  to  the  Do- 
mestic and  Mechanic  Arts,  and  to  Manufactures  and  Agricul- 
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Natural  History  of  Quadrupeds. 

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Scott's  Infantry  Tactics ; 

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Somerville's  (Mary)  Connection  of  the  Phys- 
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Whewell's  Astronomy  and  General  Physics, 

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Uncle  Philip's  Natural  History ; 

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Vegetable  Substances  used  for  the  Food  of  Man. 

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Kane's  Elements  of  Chemistry: 

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Lee's  Elements  of  Geology  for  Popular  Use. 

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Mineral  Resources  of  the  United  States.  With  numerous  En- 
gravings. 18mo,  half  Sheep,  50  cents. 

White's  Natural  History  of  Selborne. 

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Salverte's  Philosophy  of  Magic, 

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ences. Translated  from  the  French,  with  Notes,  Illustrative, 
Explanatory,  and  Critical,  by  A.  TODD  THOMSON,  M.D.  2  vols. 
12mo,  Muslin,  $1  00. 

Loomis's  Treatise  on  Algebra. 

8vo,  Sheep  extra,  $1  00. 

Loomis's  Elements  of  Geometry  and  Conic 

Sections.     8vo,  Sheep  extra,  $1  00. 

Loomis's  Elements  of  Plane  and  Spherical  Trig- 
onometry, with  their  Application  to  Mensuration,  Surveying, 
and  Navigation.  To  which  is  added,  a  full  Series  of  Tables  of 
Logarithms  of  Numbers,  and  of  Sines  and  Tangents  for  every 
Ten  Seconds  of  the  Quadrant.  With  other  useful  Tables.  8vo. 
Sheep  extra,  $1  50. 

Loomis's  Tables  of  Logarithms  of  Numbers; 

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Quadrant.  With  other  useful  Tables.  8vo,  Sheep  extra,  $1  00. 

Hackley's  Treatise  on  Algebra. 

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Hackley's  Elementary  Course  of  Geometry. 

12ino,  Sheep  extra,  75  cents. 

Clark's  Elements  of  Algebra. 

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together  with  an  Appendix,  containing  Infinite  Series,  the  gen- 
eral Theory  of  Equations,  and  the  most  approved  Methods  of 
resolving  the  higher  Equations.  8vo,  Sheep  extra,  $1  00. 

Hazen's  Popular  Technology; 

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• 

baluable  toorks  for  Reference 

PUBLISHED    BY 

HARPER  &  BROTHERS,  NEW  YORK, 


Webster's  Dictionary  of  the  English  Language. 

Exhibiting  the  Origin,  Orthography,  Pronunciation,  and  Defini- 
tions of  Words.  Abridged  from  the  Quarto  Edition  of  the  Au- 
thor. To  which  are  added,  a  Synopsis  of  Words  differently 
.Pronounced  by  different  Orthoepists  ;  and  Walker's  Key  to  the 
Classical  Pronunciation  of  Greek,  Latin,  and  Scripture  Proper 
Names.  A  new  Edition,  revised  and  enlarged  by  CHAUNCEY  A. 
GOODRICH,  Professor  in  Yale  College.  With  the  Addition  of  a 
Vocabulary  of  modern  Geographical  Names,  with  their  Pronun- 
ciation. 8vo,  Sheep  extra,  $3  50. 

M'Culloch's  Universal  Gazetteer. 

A  Dictionary,  Geographical,  Statistical,  and  Historical,  of  the 
various  Countries,  Places,  and  principal  Natural  Objects  in  the 
World.  In  which  the  Articles  relating  to  the  United  States  are 
re-written,  multiplied,  and  extended,  and  adapted  to  the  present 
Condition  of  the  Country,  and  to  the  Wants  of  its  Citizens,  by 
DANIEL  HASKEL,  A.M.  With  Seven  Maps.  2  vols.  8vo,  Muslin, 
$6  00 ;  Sheep  extra,  $6  50. 

Brown's  Dictionary  of  the  Holy  Bible. 

Containing  an  Historical  Account  of  the  Persons  ;  a  Geograph- 
ical and  Historical  Account  of  the  Places  ;  a  Literal,  Critical, 
and  Systematical  Description  of  other  Objects,  whether  Natu- 
ral, Artificial,  Civil,  Religious,  or  Military  ;  and  an  Explanation 
of  the  appellative  Terms  mentioned  in  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ments :  the  whole  comprising  whatever  important  is  known, 
concerning  the  Antiquities  of  the  Hebrew  Nation  and  Church 
of  God ;  forming  a  Sacred  Commentary,  a  Body  of  Scripture 
History,  Chronology,  and  Divinity ;  and  serving  in  a  great 
measure  as  a  Concordance  to  the  Holy  Bible.  With  the  Au- 
thor's last  Additions  and  Corrections,  and  further  enlarged  and 
corrected  by  his  Sons.  Also,  a  Life  of  the  Author,  and  an 
Essay  on  the  Evidence  of  Christianity.  8vo,  Sheep  extra, 
$1  75. 

Drisler's  English-Greek  Lexicon. 

A  new  and  copious  Work,  drawn  from  the  best  Sources.  8vo. 
(In  press.) 

Andrews's  Latin-English  Lexicon. 

Royal  8 vo.     (In  press.) 


2  Valuable  Works  for  Reference. 

Gardner's  Medical  Dictionary. 

Containing  an  Explanation  of  the  Terms  in  Anatomy,  Human 
and  Comparative,  Physiology,  Practice  of  Medicine,  Obstetrics, 
Surgery,  Therapeutics,  Materia  Medica,  Chemistry,  Botany, 
Natural  Philosophy,  with  the  Formulas  of  the  principal  Pharma- 
copoeias, and  valuable  practical  Articles  on  the  Treatment  of 
Disease.  On  the  Basis  of  Hooper  and  Grant.  Adapted  to  the 
present  State  of  Science,  and  for  the  Use  of  Medical  Students 
and  the  Profession.  8vo,  Sheep  extra,  $2  50. 

A  Dictionary  of  Science,  Literature,  and  Art : 

Comprising  the  History,  Description,  and  Scientific  Principles 
of  every  Branch  of  Human  Knowledge ;  with  the  Derivation  and 
Definition  of  all  the  Terms  in  general  Use.  Edited  by  W.  T. 
BRANDE,  F.R.S.L.  and  E.,  assisted  by  JOSEPH  CAUVIN,  Esq. 
•  The  various  Departments  by  eminent  Literary  and  Scientific 
Gentlemen.  Illustrated  by  numerous  Engravings  on  Wood. 
8vo,  Sheep  extra,  $4  00. 

The  Farmer's  Dictionary. 

A  Vocabulary  of  the  Technical  Terms  recently  introduced  into 
Agriculture  and  Horticulture  from  various  Sciences,  an-"  also  a 
Compendium  of  Practical  Farming;  the  latter  chiefly  I  om  the 
Works  of  the  Rev.  W.  L.  Rham,  Loudon,  Low,  and  Youatt,  and 
the  most  eminent  American  Authors.  Edited  by  D.  P.  GARD- 
NER, M.D.  With  numerous  Illustrations.  12mo,  Muslin.  81  50 ; 
Sheep  extra,  $1  75. 

Anthon's  Classical  Dictionary. 

Containing  an  Account  of  the  principal  Proper  Names  mention- 
ed in  Ancient  Authors,  together  with  an  Account  of  the  Coins, 
Weights,  and  Measures  of  the  Ancients,  with  Tabular  Values 
of  the  same.  Royal  8vo,  Sheep  extra,  $4  00. 

Smith's  Dictionary  of  Greek  and  Roman  An- 
tiquities. First  American  Edition,  corrected  and  enlarged,  and 
containing  also  numerous  Articles  relative  to  the  Botany,  Min- 
eralogy, and  Zoology  of  the  Ancients,  by  CHARLES  ANTHON, 
LL.D.  Illustrated  by  a  large  number  of  Engravings.  Royal 
8vo,  Sheep  extra,  f  4  00. 

Smith's  School  Dictionary  of  Antiquities. 

Abridged  from  the  larger  Dictionary.  With  Corrections  and 
Improvements,  by  C.  ANTHON,  LL.D.  Illustrated  with  numer- 
ous Engravings.  12mo,  half  Sheep,  90  cents. 

Riddle  and  Arnold's  English-Latin  Lexicon. 

Founded  on  the  German-Latin  Dictionary  of  Dr.  Charles  Ernest 
Georges.  8vo.  (In  press.) 

Liddell  and  Scott's  School  Greek  Lexicon; 

Being  an  Abridgment  of  the  Above,  by  the  Authors,  with  the 
Addition  of  a  Second  Part,  viz.  English-Greek.  (In  press.) 


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